Rekindled
by creitros
Summary: In a battle between Leaf and Sound, Hinata is struck down. When Naruto fails to notice an incoming attack, Kyuubi steps in. : TimeTravel, Demonic : NarutoHinata, NejiTenten, undecided on others : Rated for violence, some language, nudity, and my paranoia
1. Against Death

At times that are convenient, I will include a phrase from the manga (translated from Japanese, so it may not be the 'official' English wording). For that and the main ideas behind the characters, setting, plot, etc. of Naruto, I include this:

Disclaimer: Any and all ideas found in the story belong to the originating author(s).

While reading this, you may encounter some Japanese words or phrases that I have worked in simply because I assume most readers will recognize them. I don't watch dubbed anime (I simply prefer subbed or raw), so I don't know what someone who does would know.

Summary: In a battle between Leaf and Sound, Hinata is struck down. When Naruto fails to notice an incoming attack, Kyuubi steps in. :: Time Travel, Demonic :: relationships: Naruto & Hinata (main), Neji & Tenten, undecided

‡» Chapter 1 «‡

‡» Against Death «‡

Haku blinked. One moment Naruto was running at him after he convinced Naruto to kill him, the next he'd suddenly faltered and collapsed a few feet in front of him, yelling in pain. Now he was having what appeared to be a seizure. As suddenly as he started, he stopped and lay still—seemingly unconscious. The odd chakra and killing intent that had been radiating from him before had appeared again when he fell; although, this time the intensity made the earlier feeling laughable. It seemed to be building around Naruto, rather than dispersing. Glancing to check on Zabuza, he noticed that he was trapped by some dogs. He turned to go help when a pulse came from behind him, followed by a silent explosion. The last thought Haku had before he fell unconscious was a confused '_Huh?_'

Sakura was really confused. She couldn't see much because of the mist and she'd been feeling this really weird chakra for a while now, coming from about where she thought Sasuke-kun was. Then the mist started to clear away a bit and she could see Kakashi-sensei in front of the other ninja, Zabuza. At least it looked like Kakashi-sensei was winning. Then she'd been knocked back by some kind of explosion, which had cleared out the rest of the mist. When she looked to where the explosion came from (she'd checked and Kakashi-sensei and Zabuza were both looking, too), she saw Naruto and the fake hunter-nin on the bridge. '_I shouldn't be surprised, really. That is Naruto, after all.'_ Blinking, she looked around for Sasuke-kun and saw him on the ground as well, though he was further away. That was what had her confused. '_Why are they all unconscious?_'

Looking back at Kakashi-sensei, she noticed he was fighting Zabuza again, though she couldn't see the dogs that had been on Zabuza before. She quickly looked back towards Sasuke-kun, worry etched on her face.

Noticing the direction and emotion of the girl's glance, Tazuna said, "I'll go with you. Then you won't be breaking your sensei's order."

Sakura glanced up at Tazuna-san and then looked at Kakashi-sensei again. Noting that he and Zabuza were both focused on each other, she said a quick "Ok" and grabbed Tazuna-san's hand before running over to Naruto (who was closer). Seeing that he was just sleeping ('_Figures_'), she tried to wake him up. Failing, she ran over to Sasuke. Her heart nearly stopped. Bending over quickly, she noticed two things: his skin was pale and cold. She felt her heart break.

Kakashi was having a bad time. He'd had Zabuza trapped and was beginning to charge at him when the large burst of the Kyuubi's chakra knocked him sideways and made him lose concentration on the Chidori. Add the fact that the nin-dogs he'd used to trap the devil were dispersed by the chakra as well, and he had been forced to go back to hand-to-hand combat. But not before he took a look at the others. Thankfully, Naruto seemed fine. Unconscious, but alive. Sasuke on the other hand, he couldn't tell. At least the other boy was on the ground as well. Glancing at Sakura, he noticed her start to run to check on the others. Good. He'd managed to stun Zabuza with a kick for the short time it took him to damage an arm enough to render it useless. Kakashi three, Zabuza one. Taking out Zabuza's other arm was fairly easy, though that sword of his was annoying. "Now both arms are useless. You can't even use seals." Game to Kakashi. Phew.

Before Zabuza could respond, a new voice caught Kakashi's attention. "Ahh, you're being beaten, how disappointing, Zabuza." Looking over, Kakashi couldn't help but wonder, '_Who's the shortie. He's barely taller than Naruto._' "Gatou," Zabuza unknowingly answered Kakashi's question, "Why are you here? And why men are those men here."

While Gatou outlined his plan, Kakashi was only half-listening. His thoughts were on the mob behind Gatou. '_It will be difficult to fight them, with how low I am on chakra_. _How…_' Kakashi's thoughts were interrupted by Zabuza's words. "Kakashi, I'm sorry, this fight is over. With no reason to go after Tazuna, I have no reason to fight you." Considering, Kakashi responded. "Ah, you're right."

When Gatou went to kick the unconscious Haku, Zabuza moved in and kicked Gatou away with a growled out "Bastard." Watching Gatou run back towards the mob behind him, Zabuza looked back at Kakashi and rather calmly stated, "Take care of Haku for me, and give me a kunai."

Kakashi narrowed his eyes before giving a quick nod, tossing a kunai, and watching the devil of the mist cut through the rabble to get to Gatou. When Zabuza did break through to him, he stabbed Gatou before decapitating him. The wounds Zabuza had taken, however, guarantied death without immediate medical attention. Once he killed Gatou, he dropped the kunai from his mouth and looked back at Kakashi—though it may have been Haku—before he collapsed forward.

Kakashi narrowed his eyes and glanced over his team, Tazuna, and Haku before going back to the armed mob in front of him. '_Well now, how to get out of here?_' He started going through ideas while the group was still stunned from Zabuza's abrupt end. Suddenly, Sakura gave a yell.

Sakura hadn't been paying attention to what was going on around her. She knew she should have been, considering they were fighting and all. But she just couldn't get past the idea that Sasuke-kun was dead. She had slowly been removing the senbon while crying. It took her a few seconds to realize that the voice saying "Sakura, you're heavy" was Sasuke-kun speaking to her. As soon as she realized that he was alive, she couldn't help but grab him in a hug, though she let go soon after she felt him flinch and say that it hurt. When he started to get up she told him not to move and that Naruto and the masked kid were unconscious. Looking around, she saw Kakashi-sensei crouching and Zabuza gone. "Kakashi-sensei, Sasuke-kun is all right!"

Kakashi looked back when Sakura yelled and saw Sasuke standing. When the mob started yelling out, he looked back at them. When the mob started to charge forward, he narrowed his eyes, whispering "Damn."

When Sasuke and Sakura noticed the mob charging, they got into a defensive stance in front to Tazuna.

Kakashi jumped back to Naruto and Haku when the mob started to move, preparing to defend, when an arrow embedded itself into the bridge and halted the charge. Looking for the source, he found Inari and a large group of villagers ready to defend their village. Kakashi had to admire the effect Naruto had on the kid. Looking back to the mob, they were rallying to begin another charge when he thought of Naruto again. A seal later and several dozen or so Kage Bunshin clones stood behind him. Working on intimidation, he was quite glad when the mob fled. Kakashi dismissed the clones and walked over to check on Naruto. Seeing him unconscious—or asleep, he called out to the other two, "Oy, come get Naruto and carry him back to Tazuna-san's house." He then went over to Haku, noticing that he was starting to stir. When he touched Haku's shoulder, he jerked awake and jumped back, stumbling slightly as he landed. Glancing around warily, he saw Zabuza on the ground and ran to check on him.

When Haku got to Zabuza, he fell to his knees and started to cry, repeating a mantra of "I'm sorry" and "I failed" while he checked for Zabuza's vital signs. He let out a small cry of joy when Zabuza opened his eyes.

Looking at Haku, Zabuza spoke. "It looks like it's over for me. Don't cry over me. I've lived my life. You…You weren't just a tool. You were like…the son…I never had. Find…a dream. Live for yourself…Haku…"

Kakashi had come up behind Haku and put what he hoped would be a comforting hand on his shoulder as Zabuza spoke. When done, the effort to speak seemed to have drained Zabuza, and he closed his eyes. Haku jerked forward, crying harder. Sighing, Kakashi said, "He may have been a missing-nin, but he died with his honor." Noticing the snow that started to fall, he looked up. "I suggest we get moving."

Walking up, Tazuna said, "Well, I can call some of the villagers over to carry his body. There is a clearing near my house; we can bury him there, if you wish." At Haku's absentminded nod, Tazuna went to recruit help. Kakashi gave a squeeze to Haku's shoulder before going to check on his students.

‡ж‡

Naruto had just managed to hit Kabuto in the chest with a Rasengan—a proper one this time, as he'd finally mastered the move half a year ago. Though Kabuto's healing prevented most of the damage again, Naruto had grabbed a katana earlier in the battle and did not hesitate to decapitate Kabuto while he was still stunned. Ignoring all prior training and his own instincts, he turned and kneeled down and focused entirely on the form in front of him.

Hinata. Kabuto had just stabbed her in the stomach with a kunai; one that Naruto knew was poisoned. He also knew that the poison was lethal. Tsunade had determined that the poison was the same that was on the Kusanagi. Sickly pale and breathing in soft gasps, Hinata lay on her back, cradling her stomach with her arms while holding the gash closed with her hands. She was still aware of her surroundings, as she whispered "Naruto-kun" when he cradled her in his arms.

Really, how could the world be so cruel to him? First there was Kyuubi—the bastard fox that he is—and Konoha's treatment of him. The Akatsuki were after the fox—and therefore him, too. Then there was Sasuke-teme and his betrayal. Though, they'd figured out that the curse seal he got was designed to almost force him to go to Orochimaru. It was too late though. Orochimaru had killed Sasuke, and taken his body, not two months ago. Konoha was slowly crumbling from Orochimaru's assault. Sand wasn't able to help because Orochimaru had engineered Stone declaring war on them (there was no proof, though).

And now Hinata was dying. He'd just gotten to really know her seven months ago, by accident really. He was headed for one of the training areas that were used less frequently to practice various jutsu, mainly Rasengan. He didn't know that Hinata had fallen asleep at the base of a tree. Imagine his surprise when she let out a rather loud (for her) shriek after he used Rasengan on the other side of the tree she was resting against. She turned a really dark red when she saw him though. After apologizing profusely, which in turn made her get redder, he asked her if she could help him with getting the Rasengan right. Considering the Hyuuga expertise in controlling chakra in the hand, he thought this was a good idea. She fainted. After waiting for her to wake up, she agreed. Taking her to eat ramen as thanks, he'd asked if she could help more. After a week of training, he'd gotten to know her more and, well, asked her out. After another faint, she again agreed. They'd steadily grown closer, and he'd even worked up the courage to tell her about Kyuubi after about two months. That decision was helped by Sakura, both in her encouragement and continued friendship after she found out about Kyuubi. When Orochimaru started sending out patrols to take out any Konoha ninja leaving the Fire Country border, Tsunade decided to reform the groups to four instead of three. Somehow, he'd gotten in with Hinata's old team.

Since then, there had been the declaration of open war between Leaf and Sound and two major battles. This was the third. The first battle was fought near the border between Fire Country and Orochimaru's territory, where Konoha managed to repel Orochimaru. The second took place near a prominent village in the north-western corner of Fire Country, near Waterfall. This third battle was right outside Konoha itself and its defenses were being steadily worn down.

As it was, Naruto didn't sense or notice the blade of highly compressed air sent his way. However, Kuuybi did. At the end of the short fight with Kabuto, Naruto had gotten hit with the poisoned kunai. This wasn't lethal to him, but it did slow his movement considerably as it was purged from his system. Since there wasn't enough time for Kyuubi to make Naruto move, and the trajectory of the blade was such that it would hit his neck, Kyuubi fell back to his last resort to remain alive. He was actually interested in testing the technique, as he'd only developed it after his…imprisonment. He was sure it would work. He wasn't certain of the consequences but he wasn't going to be the one paying them, and as such he wasn't going to press the issue. He also didn't like how events had been developing, especially with the Akatsuki. He wasn't certain of their goals, but the idea of humans manipulating demons in any way was not something he would tolerate. So he pushed as much chakra as he could through the seal using Naruto's building rage at Hinata's imminent death, formed a sphere around Naruto and _twisted_.

All Naruto and, unintentionally, Hinata felt was a sudden jerk and searing pain before their spirits left their bodies. Kyuubi really couldn't help bringing her as well, as the technique affected a small area around Naruto. She wasn't an enemy, so it shouldn't matter. Kyuubi directed the sphere of chakra containing the two spirits through the rift to the earliest focus point he could sense. He'd be pulled along, due to his tie to Naruto's soul. Interesting, how you had to not have a physical body—and yet be alive and have enough chakra—to be able to use the technique. Not to mention that the human concepts of time and space would prevent them from even thinking of it. Only the fact that he was tied to Naruto rather than the other way around made it so that he couldn't just go back to before he was sealed. Having memories of the future could be fun in so many ways.

‡ж‡

Naruto woke up screaming. He was out like a light the next second from Sakura's punch. Ten minutes later he woke up in a more peaceful manner to find Sakura apologizing. "Gomen ne Naruto, you scared me when you screamed out like that."

"Gomen, gomen. But what happened? Where am I? Why am I here? What…"

"Calm down Naruto, you in Tazuna-san's house. Sakura, go back to Sasuke on the bridge." Kakashi said as he walked into the room.

At that, Sakura perked up. "Hai, sensei."

Standing from where she was kneeling by Naruto, Sakura headed out of the room. As soon as she was out, Naruto asked, "Ano, Kakashi-sensei, how'd I get here?"

"Well…" After a quick retelling of the fight on the bridge, Kakashi went straight to the point. "Now, care to tell me what happened out there with Kyuubi?"

Naruto scrunched up his face in thought before answering. "I dunno." To which Kakashi sighed, thinking '_I thought as much._' "Well," Naruto elaborated, "after Sasuke fell, I remember getting really mad but then I kinda blank before I'm talking to Haku and then there's a lot of pain…wait, how's Sasuke?"

"He's fine, though he was a little tired for a few days after activating his Sharingan for the first time." Seeing Naruto about to speak he said, "Turns out Haku did the same thing to Sasuke as he did to Zabuza."

"Oh. What about Haku and Zabuza?"

"Zabuza is dead." Naruto's eyes widened. "I spoke with Haku after we buried Zabuza. He's coming back with us." Naruto's face took on a confused look. "I don't imagine Hidden Mist would be very receptive. Anyways, the bridge is almost done, we'll be leaving in two days."

At that, Naruto gave a sharp glance at Kakashi. "Eh? How long was I asleep?"

"Almost two weeks."

"WHAT??" Naruto jumped out of bed and started running around, gathering his clothes and gear. "Two weeks of Sasuke-teme training without me. How am I supposed to get better if I sleep all the time?" He suddenly paused with his shirt half-way on and asked, "Kakashi-sensei, who's the hebi-teme?"

With a somewhat confused expression, as far as anyone could tell, he responded. "Who?"

"Ano, what was his name…" Naruto's face became an intense mask of concentration before he looked at Kakashi. "Ah, Orochimaru."

The reaction from Kakashi was not was he was expecting. Kakashi was suddenly showing full attention, a rare state for the laid-back jounin. "He's a very dangerous missing-nin, why do you ask?"

By now, Naruto was about to go out the door. Determined to catch up on training, he quickly answered. "Oh…I had this weird dream. Oh well."

Narrowing his eyes, though only one was visible, Kakashi followed Naruto out. '_Why would Orochimaru be in Naruto's dream?_' "Naruto, how do you know Orochimaru?"

Naruto shrugged. "Never met the bastard." Kakashi sighed.

By the time they reached the outside, Kakashi had reverted back to his normal self, book included.

‡ж‡

Naruto had thrown himself into his training. Except for when he was on guard duty on the bridge, Naruto was constantly running around the village, going up and down trees all the while. He'd also taken to dragging himself up trees by his hands. When Sasuke first saw this new training method, he'd made only one comment, "Baka."

What he didn't know was that Naruto was trying to increase his chakra control in his hands so that he could be sure that if the Rasengan was an actual jutsu, he could use it. He simply thought that if it worked for his feet, it could work for his hands.

While he was guarding Tazuna, he practiced his Kage Bunshin no Jutsu.

Haku mourned Zabuza for the first day after the battle. The second day however, Naruto encouraged him to talk some.

Sasuke trained in activating his Sharingan and keeping it active, incorporating it into his taijutsu practice. He avoided company, for the most part, feigning disinterest in everything but his training.

Sakura alternated between guard duty, watching Sasuke, and endurance training.

Kakashi read his book. He was either guarding Tazuna (while reading), overseeing his students (while reading and occasionally yelling out a suggestion), or lounging about (while reading).

‡ж‡

The journey back was rather anticlimactic, considering the attacks encountered on the way to Wave.

Haku was rather subdued still from Zabuza's death. Though, he had furthered his friendship with Naruto a bit.

Kakashi was reading yet again.

Sasuke was being grumpy and staying away from Haku, nursing his injured pride. He was also trying to figure out what had happened during the fight. He wasn't about to ask though, as the only people who might know were the ones he refused to approach: Haku and Naruto.

Sakura was alternating between trying to engage Sasuke in conversation and looking down at the road. She had been useless in that fight and she hated feeling useless. After the two weeks of endurance training she had done, she couldn't notice a difference. She'd determined that she really needed to train more, and was trying to figure out how. '_I'll ask Kakashi-sensei about that when we get back._'

Naruto though, had his mind running in circles. He hadn't told Kakashi-sensei about his 'dream' for two reasons. First, he couldn't figure out what it was about. '_It was like a movie. I saw my life until now, but then if went on…chuunin exams…Gaara, another jinchuuriki…oyaji dies…Ero-sennin and Tsunade-baachan…Sasuke-teme runs off…the hebi-teme Orochimaru…the war…GAH_' Naruto brought his hands to his head in frustration. '_Was the dream the future?_' Which led to the second reason, he didn't want to be called crazy. He was certain that Haku had died in his dream, if it was a dream. That part was fuzzy anyway. So if Haku was alive, it couldn't be the future, right? But then, that Orochimaru guy _was_ a real person, and he knew that he had never met or ever heard of him. '_Does that mean that the rest of the dream was true? Well, if it is, then I'm going to try out some of the jutsu I remember from it. Rasengan looks so cool! I could see about asking…_' His eyes opened really wide at the next thought, '_Hinata,_' which derailed all others. It was a good thing he was behind everyone, or they might have seen the sudden and uncharacteristic blush.

‡ж‡

Hinata jerked awake and sighed. Then she remembered the dream and blushed. '_I had a dream about Naruto-kun again_'. Though she had to admit, this dream was strange, even for her; especially since she remembered the dream to be her past, present, and what seemed like her future. She even remembered dying at the end, held by Naruto-kun. Focusing back on the room she was in, she immediately went into alert—she wasn't on a mission and it wasn't her room. She calmed when she recognized that she was in the Konoha hospital. Checking herself for injuries, she couldn't find any. Odd. Her last memories, before the dream, were of training with her team. '_I was sparring with Shino again, and went to strike him with my right palm, but…'_ After that, she drew a blank. Looking down at her hands, she thought, '_I must have not noticed an attack and it knocked me out._' She looked at the door when she heard movement and watched a Hyuuga guard enter.

"Hinata-sama, I am glad you have awakened. I will fetch the doctor immediately."

"H-hai."

After the door closed, she went over her dream again, for lack of anything else to do. '_Ano, Naruto-kun and I were fighting a ninja named Kabuto who was working for…Orochim-maru?_' She knew that he was an S-class missing-nin; her father had made she memorize the bingo book. She also knew that Naruto was currently on a mission in Wave Country. That was certainly true. She hadn't seen Naruto-kun for several weeks, plus however long she was in the hospital. Her pale eyes widened when she suddenly remembered a rather interesting fact in her dream. Naruto was the carrier for the Kyuubi. '_If Naruto-kun really is…Then, it would explain the way he is treated._'

That fact only made her admire him more.

Determined to talk to him on his return, if he wasn't back already, she waited for the doctor so that she could hopefully be released. She only hoped her courage didn't fail her again.

‡ж‡

When they finally checked in at the Konoha main gate, Kakashi turned around and stated, "You have the rest of today and tomorrow off. I'm going to turn in the mission report. Haku, follow me."

All four responded with a quick "hai" before splitting up.

Naruto immediately headed off to pay homage at Ichiraku's, but paused half way there. He really needed to know if that dream was of the future. So instead he headed for his favorite thinking spot: the Hokage Monument. Once he was perched on top of the monument of the Sandaime Hokage, he tried his best to think of a way to prove the dream right or wrong. '_Hmm…Best way would be to wait to see if the chuunin exams start, but that's not for another two weeks. Ehh. Uhh. Geh! Where the hell am I?_' He'd just opened his eyes to find himself in this weird grey hall. He was stopped from exploring by a now familiar dark chuckle. '_Kyuubi!_' He headed to where he thought it was coming from.

He stopped when he came up to the large gates and saw the demon itself for the first time (minus the dream).

"**So, my pathetic jailor has shown himself.**"

Bringing a fist up, Naruto responded in kind. "OY! Don't call me pathetic you stupid fox!"

"**As brazen as I remember from the future.**"

That got Naruto's attention. "So that dream really was the future? How did…?"

Kyuubi narrowed his eyes. "**A jutsu I developed while stuck here in case you should fail to stay alive. It brought the memories of our future selves back in time. Do not ask how, you would not understand.**" Naruto was about to shout back when Kyuubi spoke again. "**Find the girl, she was brought back as well.**"

"Hinata? How did she…?"

"**I do not wish for events to go as they did. I do not like this…Akatsuki. Nor do I like the snake. The girl is a bonus, as two agents are better than one. You will both train."** Kyuubi gave a vicious grin. "**It is time my influence is felt again, if at least in part. Find the girl and bring her somewhere private, away from the village if possible. Then we will begin. Go.**"

At this point Naruto was forced back to awareness. '_Well, being trained by the Kyuubi should be cool. Who knows what jutsu it could teach me! Besides, if it wants to fight Orochimaru and the Akatsuki, I'm all for it!_' Nodding once in a decisive manner, he headed off to where he thought Hinata's team trained.

‡ж‡

Kakashi read his book while leading Haku to the Hokage tower, giggling every minute or so. He also secretly observed Haku, who was becoming nervous. When he reached the tower and brought Haku to the Hokage's office, he stopped and said, "Wait here, I'll call you in when the Hokage wants to talk to you directly."

Haku gave a nod and walked over to the wall to wait, mindful of the two guards watching him.

‡ж‡

Once the doors to his office closed, the Hokage looked up from the damnable paperwork and smiled. "Ah, Kakashi. I heard you ran into some trouble."

"Hai, Hokage-sama, but my team pulled through. I submitted the mission report but thought you may want a more private report concerning one member."

"You mean Naruto."

"Hai, Hokage-sama."

The Hokage sighed, massaging his forehead. "He insists on troubling me even while away from the village."

"More like trouble follows him." Kakashi decided to jump straight to the point. "During the last fight, I felt the Kyuubi's chakra."

The Hokage sighed again. "Two sources of trouble and only one person. Very well, report."

"I'm afraid I don't know much other than the fact that I felt it appear twice, but as far as I can tell, the seal is intact. During the fight Naruto ended up unconscious. He did not wake up for 12 days. I asked Naruto about it the day after he woke up, but he said he only remembered being really angry. However, I have the boy named Haku that he was fighting. As stated in my report, Haku wishes to join the Leaf now that Zabuza is dead. He is at least low chuunin level."

"Really?" Smiling, Sarutobi continued, "Call him in."

‡ж‡

When the doors in front of him opened again, Haku tensed. Kakashi poked his head out, and Haku was fairly certain he was smiling. "Come on in." Haku quickly obeyed.

He tensed further when the doors closed behind him, though Kakashi's presence was somewhat reassuring. The gentle smile on the face of the elderly man behind the desk helped to calm his nerves further. When he reached the desk, he stood at attention.

"Kakashi here tells me you wish to join Konoha as a ninja." At Haku's affirmative nod, the Hokage continued, "You were Zabuza's companion, were you not?" Again, a nod. "He was the one to train you?" Nod. "I would assume that you have no ties to another village then. I see no reason to refuse you, provided you swear loyalty to the Leaf."

Haku blinked. '_That is all?_' Seeing the expectant look on the Hokage's face, Haku answered. "Of course, Hokage-sama."

"Good. Tomorrow you will be evaluated to determine your rank. A jounin will meet you outside the tower at…" Sarutobi glanced over at a sheet of paper. "9:00 AM. Until more permanent accommodations can be found, I will arrange for a room at one of the inns. If you would wait outside while I speak with Kakashi, he will take you there."

Registering the dismissal, Haku bowed and retreated to outside the office.

‡ж‡

Once alone with Kakashi again, the Hokage continued his instructions. "Tomorrow I will have Morino Ibiki join you in evaluating Haku. See if you can get the story of the fight with Naruto from him." Writing something down, he gave Kakashi a note. "Give this to the secretary. You should be given enough money for his meals and two nights at the Leaf Inn. Anything else?"

"Well, I don't know of the significance, but Naruto did mention dreaming of a person he called the hebi-teme. Orochimaru."

With a frown, the Hokage lit his pipe. "It is odd that he should show such familiarity. Did Naruto mention meeting him?"

"That's the strange part. He said he's never met him. Perhaps he saw him in the bingo book?"

"Likely. I wonder if there is a tie between Orochimaru and the Kyuubi surfacing. I'll be calling in Jiraiya to look at the seal, anyways. He's more knowledgeable on such matters. Besides, his next book is scheduled to be released in two months."

Kakashi grinned under his mask. "Best news I've heard in a while."

The Hokage chuckled good naturedly. "Indeed." Looking down at his paperwork, he sighed. "Dismissed."

‡» Chapter Notes «‡

Kusanagi is the name of Orochimaru's sword. I don't remember the manga ever mentioning it being poisoned, but I assume it is. The name translates to "grass-cutter" or "the sword of the snake" (in old Japanese) and is said to have been made from (or found in) one of Orochi's tails. Orochi was a snake demon with eight heads and eight tails, so I thought it ought to have an effect even against Kyuubi.

‡» Author's Note «‡

Comments welcome. Opinions, too. Suggestions would be appreciated, as I have no plot set past the chuunin exams, but I plan on detailing the three year break and need a few ideas for that. Other than that, please point out any mistakes I made.

Anyways, I tried to keep speech and thought as close to how it is in the original.

I hope you enjoyed reading.


	2. For Life

‡» Chapter 2 «‡

‡» For Life «‡

It took Naruto a half an hour to find Hinata.

The first reason for the delay was his stomach. Running by Ichiraku's on the way had reminded him of his original goal upon reaching Konoha, and he had stopped for a quick bite to eat. He'd broken his record for the pace, if not the maximum, which now stood at an impressive eleven bowls in five minutes. After the said five minutes, a sharp reminder from the Kyuubi that left a mild headache forced him back to his search.

Stopping at the Hokage tower, he checked to see if her team was on a mission. Seeing that they'd already completed a D-rank mission for the day and thinking they'd be training, he headed of to their designated training area. Once he arrived at Training Area 8, he found only Kiba, Shino, and Kurenai. Dropping down from the tree branch where he'd stopped, Naruto asked, "Hey, where's Hinata?"

The response was a study in contrasts. Kurenai turned to face him with an appraising look. Shino just looked at him while Kiba started yelling. "Why the hell do you want to know!?"

"Eh? Ah…" The faint blush that crossed Naruto's face was lost on Kiba, but Shino and Kurenai noticed. "Well, I just had this question about some training."

Kiba paused, expecting Naruto to yell back. Then he narrowed his eyes. "What, are you going to try to get advice on how to beat me?"

This time Naruto did yell. "No! I was gonna ask about some chakra exercises! Why would I want to know about YOU?"

Before Kiba could respond, Shino stated, "Kurenai-sensei dismissed her early. Hinata was having difficulties and went into the woods to practice on her own." Lifting a hand, he continued, "This bug will take you to her."

Kurenai nodded, thinking '_Hinata-chan may yet get her wish._'

Watching the bug fly off, Naruto turned to follow. "Thanks!"

Kiba turned to Shino. "Why'd you do that? I was about to have him spar with me!"

Shino simply looked at him and said, "I would advise returning to our training."

Kurenai sighed. '_I'm surprised Shino even talked, but now he's back to normal. I just hate it when he puts one of his bugs on me._' Suppressing a shiver, Kurenai looked from Shino to Kiba before watching as they continued to spar.

‡ж‡

Kakashi led Haku to the Leaf Inn, a building of respectable size located two blocks south of the Hokage Tower. At the entrance, he stopped and turned to Haku. "Here, this envelope contains enough money for you to stay at the inn for two nights, along with money for food and necessities. If you go north one block and turn left, you will come to the main market area of Konoha. There are several restaurants and such there. For now, you will be allowed the same rights and permissions of a civilian. As such, I suggest you hide that forehead protector from the Mist. You can keep it, just don't wear it. After your evaluation tomorrow, you will be given documentation proving that you are a Konoha ninja. By then we should also have a list of available apartments. Any questions?"

Haku bowed while saying, "Iie, arigatou gozaimasu."

Kakashi visible eye turned upward. "Good," he said before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

‡ж‡

The bug had eventually flown to a clearing, where it seemed to disappear. When Naruto started to look around, he found Hinata meditating at the base of a tree nearby. Walking up to her, he spoke. "Why do I always find you by trees?"

Hinata opened her eyes and turned to face him before flushing a vibrant red. "Na-Naruto-kun. I, I didn't he-hear you come."

Naruto stuck his hand behind his head and grinned. "Gomen. Gomen. Ano…You see…Well…You had this weird dream about the future too, right?" The last ended up coming out in a rush.

Once Hinata deciphered what he'd said, she nodded before her eyes opened wide at the realization of what he was implying. '_T-too? Future? Wi-will all that re-really happen? Will we really…_' Before she could finish the thought she fell in a faint.

On seeing her begin to fall over, Naruto had reached out and kept her in her sitting position before leaning her against the tree. Sitting down next to her, Naruto couldn't help but wonder why he hadn't really noticed her earlier. She was shy, but she was cute, too—more so when she blushed. Sighing, he watched her with his head propped up on a fist while he waited. One minute and thirty seven seconds later, Hinata woke. Seeing Naruto, she looked down trying to hide her face and tapping her fingers before asking, "Ano, why are you here?"

Naruto grimaced. "Ehh…You know about, well, about the Kyuubi, right? From the dream."

At this Hinata looked up to his face. "H-hai. De-demo, how do we know the future?"

"I'm not exactly sure, but you know how it ends right when we die?" At her affirmative nod, he continued. "Well, Kyuubi said he moved our memories from our future selves to us from this time so that he, more like we, can change things. When I got back here he told me to find you, so I did. He said he was gonna train us!" The last was said with a grin.

"Oh…" She would have continued, but Naruto suddenly had a blank look on his face.

‡ж‡

When he'd finished speaking, Naruto had found himself by Kyuubi again. "OY, FOX! I was talking to Hinata!"

"**Silence, brat. I will begin to train you. But first, you need to place a seal…**"

"WHAT? No way am I…"

"**I said SILENCE!**" The sheer ferocity in the accompanying roar drowned out what he was going to say. "**As much as I wish to be free, there is currently no way for that to happen. Your fears are misplaced. Unless you wish to repeat every instruction I give, you will do as I say. You will place the seal I will teach you on her using both my and your chakra. I will then be able to instruct her on how to place it on you. The seal allows the user to send a thought to another, which would be of strategic importance in situations where you do not want to be heard, or when you wish to discuss something in the presence of others.**"

"Oh."

"**Explain the situation as best you can, call upon my chakra, and then wait for directions for the seal.**"

Naruto scrunched up his nose before saying, "Yeah, yeah."

‡ж‡

Hinata blinked and blushed before asking, "Na-Naruto-kun?"

"Eh? Oh, sorry. Talking to the Kyuubi. He said I had to put a seal on you so that he can talk to you directly. That way I don't have to tell you everything he says." Looking closer at Hinata's face, Naruto asked, "Are you alright?"

Hinata had paled at the thought of having a seal put on her for two reasons. First, it reminded her of the seal used on the branch family members. Second, she'd be speaking to the demon, Kyuubi. She didn't know if she'd survive. At Naruto's concerned look and question, however, color rushed back to her face and she looked down. '_I want to change…I want to become stronger. To be more like Naruto-kun. If the K-Kyuubi will train us, I, I will do it._' The last thought was accompanied by a surge of determination. Even so, Hinata's response wasn't much beyond a whisper. "Hai."

"Kyuubi won't be able to hurt you, so don't worry. He can't get away either. I mean, he would have already if he could. Besides, I'll always do my best to protect you, so…" By the end of his sentence, both Naruto and Hinata were imitating tomatoes.

"O-okay. I, I trust you."

Naruto gave a giant smile before continuing, "All right! Let's see…" His face went blank for a moment before his eyes focused back on Hinata. "Ano, the seal goes right behind your left ear, so…"

Blushing hard, Hinata reached up and moved her hair to the right while turning her face sideways. Naruto started to gather chakra, drawing from himself and the seal. Concentrating, he formed the required hand seals: dragon, rabbit, horse, bird, and monkey. Lifting his right hand with the fingers pressed together in a star shape, he moved her ear forward with his left hand before pressing his fingers right behind her ear and next to her hair line. While doing so, he stated, "Shisou Idou Fuuin." Naruto watched fascinated as the first seal he'd ever made appeared as five small black equilateral triangles pointing inwards, together forming a pentagon, with the thin lines of bare skin dividing them appearing as an upside-down star.

‡ж‡

When Naruto touched her ear, Hinata let out a small "Eep" before what felt like all the spare blood in her body went to color her face. When she was about to pass out, she felt an odd sensation where Naruto's fingers touched her. The voice that appeared in her mind caused her blush to fade to a sheer white. '**Hello, kitten.**' The voice itself inspired fear. The mental chuckle that followed that remark was the darkest she'd ever heard. '**You need to place the same seal on Naruto so that he and I can receive your thoughts as well.**' After listening numbly to the instructions, Hinata turned to look at Naruto with wide eyes. "Ky-Kyuu-Kyuubi s-said…I, I ha-have to p-put the s-seal on y-you, Naruto-kun."

"Yep! That way you can think back!"

Gathering the required chakra, Hinata carefully performed the seals and moved to place the seal behind Naruto's ear. As she did so, her face started to regain some color. By the time she finished, she was beet red. '_I t-touched _Naruto-kun!'

Naruto looked down, trying to cover the faint blush on his cheeks.

'**You will begin training, but first you must agree and abide by three rules.**' Naruto and Hinata snapped their attention back to Kyuubi. '**First rule: this training is to remain secret from everyone. This means that you will not reveal any abilities gained through this unless you must—or if I allow it. This rule especially applies to you, Naruto. You may not challenge Sasuke.**'

Naruto nearly jumped up, yelling, "What!? Why not?"

Hinata cringed back slightly from Naruto's sudden exclamation and looked at the ground.

'**Silence. Should you challenge Sasuke, you will want to beat him too much. You will most likely reveal at least part of the training you undergo with me. A few additional skills will not rouse suspicion—you will be training, after all. But advanced techniques like the Rasengan will have the entire village watching you. They already dislike—if not hate—you and if you show any abilities that might tie you to me, they will convince themselves that I am a threat—your life would be their target, much like the first year or so after I was sealed.**'

Naruto and Hinata looked at each other before agreeing to the rule.

'**Second rule: you will obey me when considering whether to alter events or not.**'

Both young ninja blinked at this before Hinata agreed. Naruto though had a frown on his face. "What if I want to change something that you don't?"

'**You are thinking of preventing Orochimaru from placing his seal on Sasuke. That is one of the events that _must_ remain the same.**'

Hinata managed to cover her ears half way through Naruto's response. "WHAT??"

Hinata shuddered at the growl that came with the next thought. '**I said _silence_. If Orochimaru does not place the seal on Sasuke, especially if _you_ prevent it, he will only try to do so again. He will also focus on eliminating your chances of interfering with his plans. He will not just place another seal over mine, he will _kill_ you. If, however, I can manage to analyze the curse seal, I may be able to neutralize or reduce its influence on the boy. It will be more beneficial to lull Orochimaru into a feeling of security—while we unravel his plans behind his back. The only way for you to successfully prevent Sasuke from getting that seal is to kill Orochimaru. That is currently impossible. Understood?**'

With a large frown, Naruto reluctantly nodded and agreed to the rule.

'**Third rule: you will obey every instruction and complete any task I set to you with regards to training. I dislike wasting time being idle or on a menial task as much as you. I know how something will affect your development. As such, you would benefit most by obeying every training point I give. Also, you will not call me sensei or mention me in any way; that would violate the first rule should anyone overhear it.**'

Hinata whispered "Hai" while Naruto nodded before grinning. "Does this mean you're telling me to call you 'damn fox'?" A growl from the back of his mind was the only reply he received.

'**Your first task in your training is to learn how to use the seals you just placed on each other. To do this, you must focus on the thought you wish to send, the person you want to send the thought to, and then send the thought encoded in a small pulse of chakra. The purpose of this training is not only to learn how to send a thought, but to also learn how to focus your mind to a task—whether it is a mission, an enemy, or something else. It should also help improve your chakra control.**'

Naruto's exuberant response to learning a new jutsu or skill had him jumping up and yelling, "All right!"

'**Before you begin, you will both meditate. Try to imagine all your thoughts, your mind. Imagine compressing those thoughts, sharpening them. Think of your mind as, say, a kunai. It is a tool, a weapon, and its blade is what does the work. The handle and loop allow for flexibility, for you to change its direction given new information, for you to plan.**'

And so they did. For Hinata, who had been meditating since she was young, the process was easy. Surprisingly, she lost some of her nervousness around Naruto while she was meditating. So she remained there, focusing and clearing her mind while enjoying simply being near Naruto.

Naruto, on the other hand, was having a hard time focusing like that. Kyuubi continued to correct him whenever his mind wandered and by the time the sky started to darken, Naruto had managed to focus enough for Kyuubi's satisfaction.

'**Tonight and every night from now on, you will both meditate for thirty minutes before you sleep. You will go over what you have learned and clear your mind for the next day. You will come here as soon as possible after each day's missions and training. You will work on using the seals tomorrow.**'

It took a second for Naruto to recognize the dismissal. Once he did though, Naruto jumped up and turned to Hinata, who shakily stood. "Let's go." They slowly made their way back toward the training area for Hinata's team. Neither spoke, as both were thinking over what Kyuubi had said. When they first caught sight of the training area, Naruto blushed a bit before he reached over and gave her a quick hug. He then ran off in the direction of the village, yelling over his shoulder, "Bye Hinata!"

Shocked, Hinata waited for her heart to slow back down to normal. As it was, Hinata stood there for over a minute before finally returning home.

‡ж‡

The next morning, Hinata was at her team's meeting point at the usual time of 6:55 AM. As usual, Shino was already there and Kiba showed up panting at 6:58. Yuuhi Kurenai appeared at exactly 7:00. Smiling, she greeted her students. "Ohayou. We have a C-rank escort mission. We are to protect a group of traders as they travel from Konoha to a village south-west of here. The expected time-frame of the mission is five days. We leave at nine, so gather your things and meet me at the main gate."

‡ж‡

Hinata was both surprised and disappointed at the mission. She was surprised because she had no memory of it, and disappointed because it meant not seeing Naruto again for five days—though listening to Kyuubi had been mentally exhausting.

Hinata left quickly to gather her things from her room and to tell her father of the mission. When she arrived at her home, she immediately went to her room to pack. She grabbed her bag and placed spare clothes, tools, and her bed roll into it. Hesitating slightly, she went to find her father.

She held nothing but love for her father, but she sometimes wondered if he felt anything for her. It was not that he mistreated her; he simply never showed much emotion. At least, not since her mother had died. Hinata knew he was…disappointed with her. He was always considering the Hyuuga clan first. Her lack of skill in using Juuken had not helped. She had never liked harming others, least of all her sister. That always threw the sparring matches between them—although Hanabi had considerable more skill in using Juuken anyway. Lately, however, Hinata was always reminded of a memory from the future when she saw her father.

Two days after she had begun to date Naruto, her father had called her to his study. When she had sat before him, he had confronted her about Naruto. He had told her that if he was who she wanted to be with, so be it. However, the clan elders were forcing him to place Hanabi as the heir and put Hinata in the branch family. Considering the past with his brother, he had agreed to replace Hinata as heir so long as Hinata could remain in the main family. After some argument, they had agreed to his terms. Now, he gave Hinata a choice: stay with the clan or move out. She had initially been confused and scared, wondering why she had to choose. Before she said anything though, he had told her he was willing to allow her to move into an apartment—the one next to Naruto's. He had simply said, "Your mother would have wanted a chance for you to live freely."

Arriving at her father's study, she knocked and waited. When he told her to come in, she gave a bow and sat before she spoke. "Father, I have a five day mission beginning at nine."

Hyuuga Hiashi looked at his daughter for a moment, thinking of his wife. He nodded before replying, "Very well. Do not fail."

Hinata bowed before she retreated from the room. Walking back to her own, she picked up her bag and left.

She then headed for the spot she was supposed to meet Naruto at, planning on leaving a note. She instead found Naruto already sitting by the tree, reading over some scrolls.

‡ж‡

Naruto looked up from the scroll he had been reading on some basic fire jutsu when he heard someone approach. Since he had the day off, he had been forced to borrow it from the Konoha Library's jutsu section. He disliked going there because everyone always watched him while he was going over the scrolls, like he'd try to learn something to destroy the village with. However, he had agreed to do whatever Kyuubi decided on for training, and learning some fire jutsu wasn't too bad. Especially since it was just a cover for the real training he'd be doing.

Seeing Hinata he jumped up and yelled, "Ohayou, Hinata-chan!"

Hinata froze. '_Hinata-chan_' kept repeating in her thoughts. She couldn't remember Naruto _ever_ calling her name with chan. Not even in the future.

Naruto, oblivious to his slip, walked over to meet her when she stopped. "Hey Hinata, I didn't think you'd get here so soon."

Shaken from her thoughts, Hinata looked at Naruto and blushed lightly. "I have a mission at nine. I, I'll be gone for five days or so."

'**In that case continue to meditate. Naruto, give her the scroll on medic jutsu to practice while she is gone.**'

Kyuubi's sudden comment caught Hinata off guard and she blinked before asking, "Hai. De-demo, medic jutsu?"

"So that we can tell people that we were practicing those. Besides, you always wanted to be a medic-nin right?" Looking around, Naruto finally spotted the scroll he'd placed by the tree and went to grab it. Giving it to Hinata, he gave her a brief hug before saying, "Good luck on your mission!"

Somewhat dazed, Hinata put the scroll into her bag as she blushed. "Arigatou, Naruto-kun." Giving a quick bow, she turned and ran toward the Konoha main gate.

‡ж‡

Haku woke to an unfamiliar room. That in and of itself wasn't unusual for him, as he and Zabuza were always moving about. '_Zabuza-san._' Looking at the alarm clock, he saw he only had half an hour to be ready for his evaluation. '_I haven't been sleeping well since…_' Stopping that thought, he began to get ready for the day.

When he arrived at the Hokage Tower, he had 5 minutes to spare. Having nothing else to do, he sat on one of the benches outside the tower to think. '_Zabuza-san told me to find my own dream, but what can I possibly do? I want to be a ninja, but I have never liked the idea of killing…not since my father…_' Shaking his head to clear it, Haku looked around him. '_This is a beautiful country though. Perhaps…Perhaps I could become a medic-nin. Yes, that would be an occupation I could enjoy. But, would they need me?_'

As he thought the question, a shadow seemed to loom over him, hiding the morning sun. Looking up, he saw a rather intimidating man. Haku couldn't see the man's face clearly, but he was imposing nonetheless simply by his height. But then, Haku was sitting down, so it may have just been perspective. The man just stood there looking down at him for a minute, by the end of which Haku had become rather nervous. When the man spoke, Haku jumped. "You are Haku?"

"Hai."

"I'm the jounin sent to test you. My name is Morino Ibiki. Follow me." When the man turned, Haku caught a glimpse of his face and wished he hadn't. The man had several scars on his face, one going through his lips. As Haku stood, he found his earlier impression was correct: Morino Ibiki was quite tall. Between his size, scars, and the way he spoke, he gave a definition to the word intimidating.

Leaving Konoha for the surrounding forests, Haku saw several fields, some with various training equipment. When Ibiki finally stopped, they were in a small, vacant field. "This is Training Area 24. Each training area has a number, and there is a map of them in the Hokage Tower. I suggest you memorize it when you can. Kakashi should be arriving in an hour or so, knowing him. For now, tell me about yourself."

"I was born in a small village in the Mist Country. When I was 5, my bloodline abilities started to manifest. Because of the civil wars, those with bloodlines are hated. When my father found out…He killed my mother, and tried to kill me. I killed him and ran. Zabuza-san found me and took me in. Now he is dead as well, and I am here."

Ibiki gave a frown. "Such is life." Haku thought he might be talking of his scars. "Now, tell me of your abilities."

"Zabuza-san trained me in using senbon and some of the taijutsu and jutsu he used. I also have my bloodline, which is a greater control of water than normally possible. When he believed I had trained enough, he gave me a forehead protector from Hidden Mist." Haku then listed the jutsu he could perform and gave details on his Sensatsu Suishou and Makyou Hyoushou techniques. He also described his skill with the senbon.

Ibiki then had Haku engage him in a thirty minute spar to test his fighting abilities. After the spar, Haku was left panting while Ibiki was barely breathing hard.

"All right, enough." Just then Kakashi wandered into the field.

Scratching behind his neck, Kakashi lightly made his excuse. "I got lost."

Haku blinked. Ibiki sighed. With a hint of amusement, he said, "Kakashi, that is the 57th time you've used that excuse on me. I suggest you find a new one."

"Well…Shall we continue Haku's evaluation?"

Ibiki shook his head at the change of topic. "Yes, though I am almost done." Looking at Haku he continued, "Tell me with as much detail as possible about a battle you have fought in. I believe you have fought two of Kakashi's students." He looked back at Kakashi when he said the last words.

"Yes, I'm curious as to how they did. I know the beginning and the end, but I was…busy during most of it."

"All right, include as much detail as you can remember."

Haku hesitated slightly before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. Letting the breath out, he opened his eyes and started. "Sasuke-san and I fought with taijutsu, which ended with him kicking me away. I then formed the Makyou HyouShou—a bloodline ability. I trapped him and started to attack when the girl, Sakura-san, threw a kunai at me. I grabbed it, but a shuriken came at me from the side and hit my mask, knocking me down. Naruto-san had thrown it. He ran into the cage of mirrors to help Sasuke-san. I continued my attack on both of them. Sasuke activated his Sharingan and was able to follow my attacks. He moved in front of Naruto-san when I attacked him and at the last moment I was able to change my attack so that he wouldn't die. Naruto-san grew…angry…at the thought of Sasuke-san dying. He…changed. He dislodged the senbon on him with chakra and all his wounds simply…healed. The chakra and killer intent he was emitting was the strongest I've ever sensed. He then attacked me, destroying my mirrors. He was too fast, too strong. I had given up when he charged at me. I believed that I had failed Zabuza-san. When he reached me, he just…stopped. We talked. I suppose, looking back, that it was odd. I told him to kill me. Then he collapsed. I saw Zabuza-san trapped and turned to help when I felt an explosion. The next thing I remember is Kakashi-san standing over me and Zabuza-san…Zabuza-san dying."

Ibiki nodded while Kakashi looked thoughtful. Ibiki said, "All right. One more question."

Lost in thought, Haku almost didn't hear him speak. Focusing, he nodded.

"What are your dreams, your aspirations for the future?"

Haku blinked at the seemingly random question. Figuring there was a reason for it, he answered. "I do not know. I think I would like to become a medic-nin. I do not like killing."

"Very well. I'll report to the Hokage now. Good day." Morino Ibiki disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Kakashi then spoke. "Come along, I'm to give you a tour of the village now." Haku followed absentmindedly, lost in thoughts and memories.

‡ж‡

Ibiki appeared at the side entrance to the Hokage Tower, a somewhat more discrete location in the ally designed specifically for such appearances. It would not do to startle civilians in such a manner. Walking up to the office, he waited for his presence to be announced to the Hokage. When he was called, he strode into the office and stood at attention as he gave his report. "Haku, clan name unknown, is a shinobi of low to mid chuunin abilities. He shows considerable skill with senbon and possesses a bloodline ability granting him higher control over water in jutsu. Preliminary examination leads to my belief that the bloodline is a mix of water and wind affinity showing itself in the control of ice. As of now, he has two bloodline related jutsu. Otherwise, he is of average skill. Personality wise, he is intensely loyal and is of a more peaceful nature. He hesitates to attack and does not like to kill. That I know of, he has only killed one person: his father, who killed his mother. He wishes to be a medic-nin. From what I have been able to determine, he would be an asset and loyal ninja to this village."

Sarutobi smiled. "Good. I will grant him the rank of rookie chuunin and assign him to the Konoha Hospital. Thank you for your input, Ibiki. Dismissed."

Ibiki gave a small bow before leaving.

Still smiling, Sarutobi pulled out his pipe and lit it with a small fire jutsu. For once, he actually enjoyed a bit of paperwork, since it was the form required to instate Haku as a shinobi of the Leaf.

‡ж‡

When Kakashi ended his rather short tour of Konoha, he took Haku to the Hokage Tower. Once there, he picked up Haku's new identification material and forehead protector. Turning to him, he said, "Here you go. You will find your passport, identification papers, Leaf forehead protector, and some information on banking. For now, I suggest you look through that and make sure everything is in order. You might want to eat something too. Return here at three this afternoon; you have a meeting with Hokage-sama to finalize everything."

Haku had nodded and pulled out his identification papers, only to freeze. What he read kept repeating in his head. '_Momochi Haku_.'

Noting the shocked expression that suddenly appeared on Haku's face, Kakashi answered his unvoiced question. "You told me how you wished to leave your past behind, but we needed a clan name for the identification papers. The Hokage thought it an appropriate compromise. If you wish to change it, you may do so when you meet with the Hokage."

Numbly, Momochi Haku shook his head before responding. "It's…ok. Arigatou gozaimasu."

Kakashi smiled before walking out of the building.

‡» Chapter Notes «‡

_Hijutsu, Sensatsu Suishou_ :: Secret Technique, Flying Water Needles :: Bloodline technique that uses one-hand seals. It creates a large number of senbon out of water and ice that surround a location and then fly at that location.

_Hijutsu, Makyou HyouShou_ :: Secret Technique, Demonic Ice Mirrors :: Bloodline technique that has only one seal. It creates a cage of mirrors made of ice that face inwards. The user can use the mirrors to amplify their speed as then move from one to another.

**Shisou Idou Fuuin** :: Thought Transfer Seal :: It allows for the maker to channel a thought via a tiny linear chakra pulse to the recipient. It's not simple to do due to the fact that you have to really focus on the thought, the recipient, and then send the chakra—think of a radio or TV wave, in which case the seal would be an antenna. Interference can be caused by a jutsu between the users (or rather, the presence of other chakra). I made up the seal sequence. As for it being used on the first try…well, it is rather simple to do, so I thought it'd be ok enough—not to mention that having the Kyuubi coaching you would be a rather strong motivator to succeed.

In case you don't know what I meant when Naruto called Hinata "Hinata-chan," he basically was showing more familiarity and, well, caring than usual.

In case you don't remember, Momochi was Zabuza's last name.

‡» Author's Note «‡

Phew, finally done. The next chapter will be a continuation of this one, or maybe I'll just update with more included. Anyways, I hope you liked it.

I'll include a translation and explanation of any new jutsu I come up with in the chapter notes; they will be in bold. Those that are in the series already are italic with a short description unless it's a well known one like Rasengan. Speaking of which, while I'm taking Japanese (for a minor) I am no expert. Should I make a mistake that you catch, please tell me.

I suppose the aspect of my story that is most confusing is the influence of the memories from their future selves. The current Naruto, Hinata, and Kyuubi are pretty much the same as they were in the previous timeline at the same time, if that makes sense. They are the same as in the manga/anime series, but with the memories of the future coloring their decisions and thoughts--like Hinata agreeing to train under Kyuubi to prevent certain events in the future or Kyuubi deciding to train them to take out Akatsuki and Orochimaru in the first place. As for the standing on their abilities and skills, well… They themselves have not learned the skills yet, nor have they trained their bodies for them. However, they know what is required for each and therefore can focus their training to sort of catch up to their future selves. Kind of like riding a bicycle, I guess, with knowing how it works and what you need to do, but not having the balance right yet.

Also, you may have noted that I'm having Kyuubi "speak" using the '' characters. He is still only thinking at them. Also, I'll be writing as if he were addressing both Naruto and Hinata unless I specify otherwise (just to clear that up).


	3. To Start

Well, when I said I didn't know how often I'd update, I certainly didn't mean months. Sorry for the wait, I just kept putting it off in favor of other things (such as work, sleep, and school). Besides, I suffered from writer's block as well (I found this chapter to be a pain, as it's mostly set up and background stuff for later).

‡» Chapter 3 «‡

‡» To Start «‡

Hinata arrived by Konoha's main gate with twenty seven minutes to spare. She would have stayed longer with Naruto, but she didn't think she could have kept from fainting.

Her rather abrupt departure had left her with several warring emotions. The greater emotion was joy at being called "Hinata-chan" by Naruto, but it was suppressed slightly by her shy nature and the other two emotions she was feeling: shame and fear. She felt shame for not being strong; for having her embarrassment overwhelm her; for lacking the courage and strength of will to stay by him after the shock had worn off. She held fear for the future. She knew that the Naruto in her memories of the future was not _her_ Naruto. That fact alone terrified her now. She was afraid that the hopes raised by the promise of the future would be false—that Naruto would find her to be a failure. '_After all, my weakness was the cause of our future selves dying._'

The full impact of that thought hit her all at once, causing her to stumble slightly as she stopped with her eyes wide. '_I, I _have_ to be stronger. To, help Naruto-kun. That is why I agreed to train with K-Kyuubi. But, _I_ have to be strong. Otherwise…_' The idea of Naruto dying because of her _again_ nearly reduced her to tears. Such a display in the open would not please her father, however, so she did her best to suppress her feelings.

Steeling herself and walking over to Shino, who almost always managed to arrive before her at any meeting point, she returned his nod with a small smile before lowering her pack to the ground, pulling out the scroll Naruto had given her as she did so. Looking over the beginning exercises in chakra control—gathering and releasing small amounts on her palms, she began to practice.

‡ж‡

Shino was mildly surprised at the expression on his shy teammate's face as she greeted him. Determination was a rare emotion for Hinata to be portraying, especially after the slight depression and then fear he had noticed on her as she was walking towards him. Idly wondering what could have caused such a change, he eventually decided on the most likely cause: Naruto. Especially considering she was now looking over what appeared to be a medic jutsu scroll from the Konoha library. He was well aware of the Hyuuga head's opinion on his daughter becoming a medic-nin. The source of such disobedience would have to be Naruto, as not even Kurenai could have her go against her father's word. Filing that thought for any possible use in the future, he dismissed the subject from his mind.

Kiba's arrival was heralded by Akamaru's barking. Looking to the source, he found both of them to be panting slightly from their running. Tilting his head in acknowledgement of his second teammate, Shino noted that Hinata had not noticed Kiba. Another oddity, as she was usually aware of her surroundings. He hoped that her lapse in attention would not extend to the mission.

‡ж‡

Kurenai walked up to their location just inside the gate fifteen minutes before nine, followed by a group of seven people—two of whom were driving a covered wagon pulled by a horse.

"Since we're all here now, I'll go ahead and explain the details of the mission to you."

Hinata jerked her head up at her instructor's voice, having been immersed in the exercises she was working on. Blushing at her unawareness, she quickly rolled up the scroll and stuffed it in her bag as Kurenai continued.

"Tabiwaza-sama," she motioned at the nearest man, "is transporting some goods to a village about three and a half day's travel from here. He is afraid of a bandit attack, as they suffered one on the last run. The three men there," she indicated the ones she was referring to, "and the woman on the wagon are his guards. He hopes that having ninja along will dissuade any attacks. Any questions?"

Rotating his body slightly to better view the group, Shino spoke up. "The other two traveling with us are…?"

With a slight smile, Tabiwaza said, "My sons. They have been traveling with the main caravan so far, and have decided to travel the branch trails in our trade route to better understand the demand of the area."

Shino gave a nod at the information. "What are the expected dangers?"

"We believe the bandits that attacked us were only half of the total group, as another trader group traveling north was ambushed the same day by eight people. We were able to fend the seven that attacked us off, but we fear they may attack in greater numbers. That we know of, we're the only traders traveling near that area at this time."

Shino gave another nod, but Kiba voiced a question before he could ask another. "Where were you ambushed at?"

"About a day's travel from the village we're headed to. The road goes along a river with some forest on the other side."

Kiba made a face at that. "All right. They'll probably choose somewhere else though, if they plan on attacking."

Shino glanced at Hinata, who was looking at the ground, apparently thinking over what they'd heard. Looking back at Tabiwaza, he said, "I believe that is all we need to know. Should you think of any other pertinent information, please tell us."

"Of course."

Kurenai gave a small smile at her team. "Good. While we travel, I want Kiba and Shino up front with Hinata and myself at the back. Should you detect anything, use your best judgment and inform the rest of us as soon as possible. Tabiwaza-sama, after you."

Tabiwaza gave a nod before having his people get ready to leave.

‡ж‡

Hinata had been…distracted, while they were doing the introductions and gathering information. She had been sure to hear everything said, but the nagging worry that had appeared while she was practicing would not leave her.

The first exercise went smoothly—gathering chakra in her palms was a basic exercise for the Jyuuken style. However, she had trouble with the second and third exercises. While practicing the second, she could not get her chakra to concentrate to one point for any longer than three seconds before it seemed to destabilize violently. The third exercise involved spreading chakra in an area around the palm while maintaining control, and whenever she tried to extend the area beyond her palms, it dissipated instantly. She had also acquired a headache, as she had done the previous day during practice.

She did not voice her troubles, however, as this was her team's first C ranked mission, and she knew that both her teammates had been looking forward to it (although Shino hid his anticipation, she had spotted his mouth forming a slight smile when Kurenai had announced it earlier). She did not want to be the one to back out—she did that enough as it is. She assumed that it was something to do with what Kyuubi did to get their memories through time, as she did not know of the same thing happening the last time. Whatever the problem was, she hoped it would be gone soon.

Taking her place at the back of the group with her teacher, she tried the exercises again while occasionally using the Byakugan to scan the area.

‡ж‡

After Hinata left the clearing, Naruto went back to reading the scroll on fire jutsu. Or at least he was trying. The exercises he was reading about were _dull_. "Why the hell do I have to practice breathing??"

A low growl preceded Kyuubi's answer. '**Fire jutsu generally rely on you breathing a certain way to initiate the jutsu. Take the Goukakyuu no Jutsu as an example: you have you breathe out a large amount of air in a small amount of time for it to form properly.**'

"Oh…It's still dull. Can't I just learn that one first then? It sounds cool."

'**No. Do each exercise five times, and then learn the first three jutsu on the scroll. You will then perfect your known jutsu. After that, we will begin your taijutsu training.**'

"Really? YES! What kind of taijutsu? Will I be able to do what that fuzzy eyebrows kid does in the future? Or Hinata? What will…"

'**Silence. You will not be learning any style until later; you will simply begin to train your body for it. As for the gates, opening them would be even more dangerous for you due to the seal. The Hyuuga style requires the Byakugan to be truly effective. If you wish to learn it, however, have Hinata teach you. I will not.**'

Chuckling darkly, the Kyuubi continued, '**And stop speaking out loud. It gives others a poor image of you, although it is rather amusing to me.**'

Naruto blinked before he understood Kyuubi's reference. As he opened his mouth to shout back, he stopped. Snapping his mouth shut and clenching his jaw, Naruto concentrated on thinking _loudly_. '_I AM NOT CRAZY!_'

Shaking his head, Naruto decided it wasn't worth the slight headache and instead focused on the scroll. '_Let's see…Breathing in a slow, constant stream. Right. Taking a large breath and forcing it out all at once. Easy. Breathing out 3, 5, and 7 times in a second? What the hell is that used for?_'

'**A jutsu that sends out several projectiles, obviously.**'

'_Shut up! I could have figured that out!_' Grumbling about giant know-it-all demons, Naruto started to practice the first exercise.

‡ж‡

Haku was at a loss as to what he should do while waiting for his appointment with the Hokage. Remembering Ibiki's comment about the training areas, he looked around for the aforementioned map. Spotting a map on the wall, Haku walked over to it. It was not the one he was looking for, but it was a map of the village. On it were highlights and labels for the main districts. Locating the market area on the map, he decided to go explore and eat—he had skipped breakfast, after all. Memorizing the relevant streets so that he could return without becoming lost, he left the tower.

‡ж‡

Sakura was having a bad day, and it had just started. She was filthy, having just finished the entire set of basic katas taught at the academy along with practicing her throwing and what jutsu she knew (not much, as she now realized). She was tired, having woken up early do the said exercises coupled with having done the exercises. She was annoyed, as her mother had asked her to go (immediately) to the market to purchase some milk and flour from the grocery. And now she was angry, as she just _had_ to run into Ino, of all people, when she got to the grocery. For the last minute, she had done nothing but complain about her teammates.

"I'm telling you, Sakura, Shikamaru has got to be the most aggravating person in Konoha!"

'_No, you are._' "Gee, with the way you're always talking about him, I'd say you have a crush."

Ino gaped at her for that, before exploding. "Hell no! Sasuke-kun is the only person I consider worthwhile!"

Sakura's face lit up momentarily in victory. "Aha! See, you don't like Sasuke-kun, you just want him for yourself!"

"What, I never said that! I mean, of course I want him, I love him more than you ever could."

"Shut up, Ino-pig, you just want him because he's the best there is. You don't actually love him!"

"Yeah right, sounds like you're talking about yourself, forehead-girl!" Ino shot back.

Sakura _really_ wanted to vent her frustration upon Ino at that moment, but she refrained herself while replying. "Just keep denying it all you want, Ino-pig." She whirled around and stormed into the store.

Having made her purchases, she marched out of the store, intent on getting back to her training. She had asked Kakashi about some training methods, and he referred her to a section of the library that contained taijutsu scrolls—a section she planned on visiting later that day. '_Although…Kakashi didn't offer to train me, so maybe I'm just not worthwhile._' Sakura looked down at the ground in a momentary bout of depression before her eyes hardened and her face formed an expression of determination. '_I will _make_ myself worthwhile._'

Turning a corner, she had a split second to realize she was about to hit someone and manage to halt her motion. Unfortunately, her sudden stop and grocery bag caused her to overcompensate and fall backwards.

‡ж‡

Haku had been wandering the market after eating at a fairly friendly ramen stand. He did not know what his income would be, so he wanted to save as much as possible. While familiarizing himself with the shops so that he would know where to go for supplies, he couldn't help but notice that he knew none of the faces he was seeing.

Pausing in front of a clothing store of moderate size, he absentmindedly stared through the window at the display. Being alone had reminded him yet again of Zabuza, and yet again the tears were stinging his eyes. He did not know how long he stood there—though he could guess that it wasn't long, as he wasn't called on for loitering. The sudden flash of pink and a familiar face in the reflection on the store window brought him back to reality, and he decided that anything would be better than remaining alone, even if the market was fairly crowded at the time.

As he was walking towards Sakura to greet her, he noticed her turn the corner before falling backwards. After a burst of speed he had crossed the five meters between them in time to prevent her from hitting the ground.

‡ж‡

Her mind had frozen when she had started to fall backwards, although she had enough sense to be certain the groceries were safe for when she would hit the ground. She watched as the eyes of the lady she had almost hit widen before she was grabbed by someone behind her. Turning her head, she recognized Haku as he gave a slight smile.

"Are you alright, Sakura-san?"

Shaking herself, she nodded her head yes while straightening. Turning to the lady, she quickly apologized. "I'm very sorry to have almost hit you, I was distracted."

The lady gave a smile. "No, no, it was my fault as well. I wasn't paying enough attention either."

Smiling in return, she replied, "Sorry, have a nice day." She turned to Haku. "Good morning Haku-san, thank you for catching me."

"Good morning Sakura-san, it was no problem."

Sakura was left with a rather awkward silence and she tried to thin of what to say. "Anou, would you like to have some tea? I would like to introduce you to my parents as well, if you aren't busy."

"I have an appointment with Hokage-sama at three, but I would enjoy some tea and company until then."

Smiling pleasantly, Sakura started to lead him to her home while asking about his opinion of Konoha.

‡ж‡

'**Your performance was acceptable.**'

"YATTA! FINALLY! I've been working on those for HOURS." Suddenly remembering that he was alone and Kyuubi's earlier comment, Naruto continued silently. '_I could do them on my third try for each, why did I have to do them that much? I thought learning those jutsu was just a cover.'_

'**True, yet it is better to have experience in the use of a skill than the simple knowledge of the skill.**'

'_Well, yeah, but when would I need to use those jutsu, anyways?_'

'**Hibana no Jutsu creates a small flame at the tip of your finger, and therefore it can be used to set fire to something inconspicuously. Since you can now activate it without using words or the seal, it is more effective. A practical use would be lighting a campfire. Yureru Hono'o is the basis for fire breathing jutsu. Ibusu Fuuin is a simple seal that can be useful. When learning a skill or jutsu, you must be thorough so that you will not make any mistakes.**'

'_I get it already. Can you teach me something cool now?_'

The Kyuubi gave a growl before answering. '**Considering that we have only a short time before the chuunin exam, it would be best to perfect those jutsu you know and work on your physical training.**'

'_Aw, I wanted to learn Rasengan._'

Naruto heard what sounded suspiciously like a snort. '**As you have the memory of the jutsu, it qualifies as a jutsu you know. It is also one of the main ones to focus on. Should you fall into a difficult situation, a powerful attack like that could be beneficial.**'

'_Really?_' "YES! This is gonna be great!"

'**You will first practice using Kage Bunshin until you can do it without hand seals or voicing it. Then you can practice the Rasengan. Although you—**'

'_There you go again, making me do jutsu without seals. I can do it with just one seal. Why do I have to learn how to do it without seals?_'

Naruto felt a headache build as Kyuubi gave an inaudible roar. The next thing he knew, he was in the pipes leading to the seal. Somewhat nervous, as he had just realized he'd been communicating with Kyuubi without coming here first, he walked towards the seal. When he arrived at the seal chamber, all he heard was a constant grating sound but he couldn't see anything past the seal. Walking up to it, much like the first time he had done so in the past timeline, he paused at the same spot. "Oy, fur-ball, why am I here?"

Suddenly, Kyuubi gave a deafening roar and the entire area of the seal lit up with a red light. The Kyuubi was crouched down in front of the gate, all nine tails waving madly behind him. His eyes were glowing red and his fangs bared at Naruto. '**Pathetic. Perhaps I was wrong about you. You are just like the rest or your race.**'

Now angry himself, Naruto shouted back. "What the hell are you talking about?!"

Rising to his full (though impeded) height, Kyuubi gave the vulpine equivalent of a sneer. '**Hungry for power yet not willing to work for it; your kind invented the hand seals as a way to quickly pass along what you so fondly call jutsu. So few humans understand what is truly happening when a jutsu is used.**' At this point the Kyuubi had calmed down slightly, as he lowered himself to the ground of his cage before continuing. '**Tell me, what happens when you use the Kage Bunshin?**'

Naruto had never seen the Kyuubi like this. When Kyuubi had settled back down, the absurd image of a little fox having a temper tantrum had popped in his head and he was hard pressed to keep his face straight. At the question, Naruto snapped back his focus on the Kyuubi. "Eh, ah, you make a copy of yourself that you can control. Since the copy also gets some of your chakra in an imitation of your chakra coils, it can use jutsu as well."

'**And what of Hibana no jutsu?**'

Naruto crossed his arms and gave a look stating that it should be obvious. "Simple, it makes a fire on your finger, with the chakra keeping it from burning you."

'**For my question, both your answers are incorrect.**'

"Eh, what do you mean? That's what they do!"

'**What you described is the idea behind the jutsu, the end result; it is not what they _do_.**'

"Huh?"

'**When you use Hibana no Jutsu, the tiger seal you use causes your chakra to mold into the basic fire pattern. You at least understand how chakra can be molded in different ways to create different effects—which are called by humans the elements, correct?'** At Naruto's nod he continued. '**The basic fire pattern—the solitary tiger seal—causes the chakra to compress the air in the area. This compression causes the air to heat. It also means that there is more oxygen per unit of air—a needed part of the process involved in fire. Understood?**'

"Yeah, we went over this in the academy. It was boring though."

'**Tell me then, after you form the tiger seal, what do you do to activate Hibana?**'

"Err, you kinda twist some of the chakra by your fingers."

'**Correct, though vague. The twisting you describe is using your chakra to spontaneously combust the compressed air. You then keep feeding it small amounts of chakra to keep the flame going. As the chakra you feed it is moving away, it acts as a control on the flame, keeping it from harming you. Yureru Hono'o is the next step, compressing the air in your lungs and breathing it out. The chakra laced and compressed air you breathe out augments any fire it comes across.**'

Naruto blinked as he processed that information. "So that means that I could make a big fireball using the two? Like that one Sasuke used…what was it…umm..."

'**Goukakyuu no Jutsu, yes. However, the size of the flame generated necessitates the use of several other seals to add elements of control.**'

"Right. Hey, this is kinda fun…But if we need the seals to control it, why can we do the jutsu without seals?"

'**As I said before, humans developed the hand seals as a method to quickly pass jutsu on to others. They are a quick and dirty way to mold chakra, as the chakra in each hand interacts when a seal is formed. When doing a jutsu without seals, you are in fact molding the chakra consciously, knowing what pattern it must be in for a jutsu. The chaotic nature of the Rasengan, for example, makes a seal sequence impractical. In essence, when you don't use seals it means that you have mastered the chakra aspect of a jutsu. Experience in the practical application of a jutsu can only be gained though use of the jutsu, such as in sparring matches, battle, or testing.**'

Naruto had closed his eyes, and when Kyuubi finished speaking, he gave nod. "Ok, makes sense. What about Kage Bunshin?"

'**I do not think you would understand the entire method of development from the chakra aspect, so I will skip that part. The Kage Bunshin creates a physical replica of yourself by compressing a great deal of chakra and air. The chakra acts as the physical body, holding the compressed air in such a way that light reflects the same way as it would off of you—giving it your appearance. The chakra also forms as a replica of your inner coils. However, your chakra reserves are divided evenly for each clone you make. That is why it is considered a jounin level jutsu. Since it is chakra that is acting as a physical thing, it is easily disrupted when it is hit. It is considered a forbidden technique because, rather than like a bunshin where you control it yourself, the chakra also imitates your brain. Hence it's name. You can still control it because it is your own chakra that holds it together. It is, in fact, similar to how you communicate using the Shisou Idou Fuuin. Provided you and the close are within a certain distance, you and your clones share information. Understood?**'

"I think so. It makes sense anyways."

Naruto suddenly found himself back in touch with the real world.

'**Now, perform Hibana no Jutsu first with the seal, and then without it. Pay attention to how you are molding the chakra each time.**'

"Right." Forming the tiger seal, he pushed some chakra into it and felt as it formed the jutsu. He activated the jutsu and watched as a flame sprang to life on his right index finger. He dispelled it, then held out a hand, watching and feeling as he formed the pattern and lit the flame. "Weird…" He repeated the jutsu using both methods again to be sure. "What the hell."

'**It would appear you have realized my point.**'

'_What's going on? It feels different when I do the jutsu with seals from when I don't._'

'**And that difference is?**'

'_Umm, I dunno, it's like doing it without the seals is less…forced, I guess. It's a little harder to do, but the chakra flows better._'

'**Precisely. While easier, using hand seals is not as efficient as simply directing your chakra. The simple reason for this is that while hand seals force the chakra to form a certain way, creating a chakra pattern without using seals allows for the chakra to flow in the most natural way.**'

'_Oh! I get it. Does it have to do with those tenketsu thingies._'

'**It does. The tenketsu are how chakra leaves the human body, and are the source of your aura—the small field of chakra that surrounds your body naturally. When you use hand seals, the aura is distorted slightly as they force a pattern to form.**'

"I see. But I still don't understand why I can't just use the seals. I mean, there's no harm in it, is there?"

'**Technically, no. However, what if I tell you that the reason a sharingan can copy jutsu is because, not only can it watch every physical movement, but it allows the use to see another's aura?**'

"Wha…How does that matter?"

'**It is through a person's aura that a sharingan user can predict attacks so effectively. Emotions, intent, even some thoughts cause the aura of a person to change. Killing intent is a forceful attack on someone's aura using your own, for example. The sharingan deciphers those changes, though it is an unconscious action. Should you suppress your aura, and it is possible to do so, the sharingan would lose some of its effectiveness in battle.**'

Naruto had to think on that. It certainly would be an advantage over Sasuke—or rather, less of a disadvantage—and anything would help fighting the Itachi bastard. If using hand seals was advertising what you were doing to them, well, he'd have to make do without hand seals. "All right, time to practice!"

'**Good. Now, you are to repeat the exercise you used to learn how to do the fire jutsu without seals. You may not, however, create more than one clone at a time.**'

'_Huh? Why?_'

'**As an exercise in control. Also, you may recover quickly, but Kage Bunshin by design splits your chakra into even amounts for each clone. Since you must repeatedly use the jutsu so as to memorize the pattern formation required, you will quickly deplete your reserves if you create several at a time like you usually do.**'

'_But wouldn't the pattern be different when you make several?_'

'**True. However, the variation is minimal, and your reliance on a multitude of clones hinders you.**'

'_What do you mean by that?_'

'**Tell me, which battles have you won—past or future—by the use of clones?**'

'_Ah…The fight against Mizuki and, umm…The last fight in the Forrest of Death, the fight with Gaara…_'

'**As you see, you only ever use clones when you need a diversion or as a shock tactic.**'

'_Umm…_'

Kyuubi gave a low growl out of frustration. '**In the fight against Mizuki and Gaara, your creation of many clones surprised them, leaving them stunned so that you could attack. Against the ninja in the Forrest of Death, you used the clones as a diversion, tricking the enemy into revealing themselves. Understood?**'

'_Oh, yeah, I get it._'

'**Then begin practicing.**'

"Right, right, bossy bastard."

‡ж‡

After a rather pleasant conversation and tea with Sakura and her mother, Haku had taken his leave. Sakura had offered to lead him back to the Hokage Tower and he had courteously accepted. They were currently walking along the residential area. Noticing her glancing at him, he gave her an encouraging smile.

Blushing slightly at being caught, Sakura asked, "Ano, you said that you have a meeting at three, correct?"

"I do."

"I, I was wondering if you could give me some advice about training. I mean, you could keep up with Sasuke-kun and, well, I feel like, no…After the last mission, fighting you and Zabuza-san, I know that I'm the weakest on my team. I, I just hate feeling helpless and weak."

She had stopped and was looking at the ground in front of her while she had been speaking. Haku was confused though, '_Why ask me?_' "Sakura-san, should you not be asking Kakashi-san about this?"

"I did. He just told me to keep practicing what I knew and some exercises. He told me of some scrolls at the library that I could learn from, but…"

Haku frowned. Wasn't Kakashi supposed to teach her, not watch as she taught herself, unless…"Perhaps Kakashi-san wants to know that you have the motivation and initiative to learn on your own first. Sasuke-san and Naruto-kun train on their own, I'm sure. Maybe he wants you to do the same, so that he can train all of you rather than just one person. Zabuza-san did something similar. He would give me an exercise and wait until I mastered it before teaching me something else."

Sakura worried her lower lip as she thought about it before looking at him. "Domo arigatou, Haku-san. I had not thought of it that way."

"No need to thank me. Although, once I have settled into a schedule, I could help you learn how to use senbon, if you wish."

"Really? That would be great! That is, if it would not be a bother for you…"

"I would be happy to. Consider it my thanks for your hospitality."

"I, thank you."

Haku gave a smile before looking down the road. "Shall we continue?"

Sakura smiled sheepishly, unknowingly mimicking Naruto. "Yes, we don't want you to be late for your meeting."

‡ж‡

Naruto lay panting heavily on the ground while looking at the sky. The Kyuubi had allowed him a ten minute break. He hadn't expected learning to do Kage Bunshin without seals would be so _hard_. Plus, he was getting a headache.

From what he knew, Rasengan was a lot harder to learn, but it didn't use seals. It also involved manipulating chakra in just your palm. As it turned out, Kage Bunshin required two chakra patterns, one around the user and the other at the point of creation. The one around the user was easy, a basic position pattern. The one at the point of creation, however, was absurdly complex—or at least it seemed like it was to him. He was starting to wonder how he ever did it with seals to begin with. But still, he could do it with seals, so he could do it without. When the Kyuubi called for him to continue, he got up and started with renewed vigor.

‡ж‡

The Hokage looked up when the door to his office opened. One of his guards looked in. "Hokage-sama, Momochi Haku is here to see you."

Sarutobi smiled. "Send him in."

The guard nodded before closing the door. A moment later, it reopened to allow Haku to enter. Sarutobi motioned for him to come closer and sit at one of the chairs. When Haku had done so, he began. "Has your time here been pleasant?"

Haku gave a polite half-bow while answering. "Very much so, Hokage-sama."

"Glad to hear it. Now, I see you have your papers and such. I hope you do not mind the name."

"I appreciate the thought, Hokage-sama."

Sarutobi smiled before nodding. "Kakashi suggested it, as we didn't know your original name. Considering your past, a fresh start seemed best. Now, I have here some of the available apartments in Konoha. While you can always look around for yourself, there is one I would suggest."

"Which would that be, Hokage-sama?"

Handing a sheet of paper detailing the apartment specifications, the Sarutobi continued. "You see, the price is rather appealing, and there is the added bonus of it being the one next to Naruto's apartment. Since you seem to have formed a friendship with him, a familiar face next door might help you better adjust to life here."

"I appreciate your kindness."

"Glad to help. Now, I suggest you take a look at those before deciding—I simply wanted to point it out. Now, you wish to be a medic-nin, correct?"

"Hai, Hokage-sama."

"Very well, I've made arrangements for you at the Konoha Hospital. You are now considered a Konoha shinobi apprenticed to the Medic Kiria. Your rank is rookie chuunin. As such, you have access to the Konoha Library's general scrolls and such. You are to report to Kiria-san each morning at seven. She will be informed of any missions you may be sent on, and will then inform you. I've arranged for the first month's rent of whatever apartment you choose, along with a weekly stipend for necessities during that time. Kiria-san will inform you of the wages for working at the hospital. I believe that is all for now. Here is the information of the rest of the apartments. Should you have any questions, feel free to ask Kiria-san or myself. Do you have any at the moment?"

"No, Hokage-sama."

Sarutobi smiled. "Good, good." Looking down momentarily, the Hokage sighed. "There is one more matter, however." Making sure he had Haku's full attention, he sighed again. "During your fight with Naruto, I'm sure you realize something…odd, happened."

Haku looked at the papers he was holding before replying. "Hai, Hokage-sama. Kakashi-san told me it'd be best not to mention it though."

"I ask that you not speak of it unless I give you my permission. You see, Naruto is—sadly—in a position much like your own." Haku looked up sharply at that. "What you witnessed was a…condition, much like a bloodline, that Naruto was born to. Most of the villagers—and it is unfortunate I have to say this—hate him for it, even though he had nothing to do with what happened. He has made some progress in changing their minds, which I am thankful for. It is, of course, an S-class village secret, much like the happenings of the Uchiha massacre. The only ones at liberty to divulge the information are Naruto and myself. While you do not know what, exactly, happened, I'm afraid that what you do know will only aggravate his situation should the villagers find out. I'm sure you can understand why I am asking this."

By now, Haku's hands were fisted and trembling slightly. "I swear to never speak of what happened."

"I'm glad, and I must thank you for your secrecy. Now, Umino Iruka has volunteered to show you around the village and help you look at the apartments. You will find him waiting in the lobby. Have a pleasant day."

Haku stood and gave a bow before leaving the office.

When the door closed again, Sarutobi let out yet another sigh; however, this one was accompanied by a smile. '_It would seem, Naruto, that you have one more friend in the world now._'

‡ж‡

Naruto groaned as he painfully lifted himself from the base of the tree he'd hit. He'd been close to getting it right. The clone had even formed. He was about to start cheering when the thing had gone and exploded. It didn't help that he could hear Kyuubi laughing at him. '_Shut up, furball, that _hurt_. What the hell happened, anyways?_'

'**You performed the jutsu, but you had a small flaw in the design that specified the air compression. It continued to compress air until the chakra could no longer control it, causing the explosion.**'

'_Great, just great. Why didn't you warn me?_'

'**So that you would learn. You do not, after all, want to repeat the experience.**'

'_Saddist. Although…_'

Peering more closely at Naruto's thoughts, the Kyuubi started chuckling. '**You should have been born a fox. However, I suggest you learn to do the jutsu properly before trying for exploding clones.**'

'_Yeah, I don't think I want to do that again today._'

'**Rest for ten minutes, then practice for another hour. After that, you will begin practicing the Rasengan.**'

'_All, right!_' Naruto collapsed backwards onto the ground.

‡ж‡

"Thank you Umino-san. I think I'll take the first one."

"Are you certain? You've only seen two others."

Nodding, Haku said, "I do not require much, and while adequate, it has the lowest rent."

"True. I've been told that you are a friend of Naruto. If so, then Naruto will be happy. He hasn't had much in the way of friendly neighbors."

"And he is one of the few I know in this village. It would be beneficial to us both."

"Very well. Let's go speak with the landlord. Then we can retrieve your things from the inn and move in. I'll have to warn you though, Naruto isn't around his apartment that much. He's too active to stay there; instead he goes off to train or pull pranks."

"I doubt I will be there much either, so it makes no difference."

"All right." Turning left at an intersection, Iruka looked back. "It's faster this way."

‡ж‡

Hinata was exhausted. The headache hadn't left her all day. She had even stopped practicing in hopes of it lessening, though she still used her Byakugan periodically. It was currently only a mild ache, but it was enough to keep her from performing the exercises. They had stopped when it had gotten dark, as planned, and set up camp in a small clearing adjacent to the road. She had just set up the tent she and Kurenai would share for the night and was in the process of laying out their sleeping mats and blankets. Kurenai and Kiba had left to do a quick sweep of the surrounding area while she and Shino set up the tents.

Climbing out of the tent, Hinata saw her teacher and teammate returning. Looking around camp, she saw that the traders had set up tents of their own, Shino was also done, and there was a small campfire near the center of the tents. She walked over to Kurenai, noticing Shino following her.

Kurenai glanced around the camp before turning back to her team. "We'll take shifts, with one of us and a guard awake per shift. Hinata, you look like you need some rest, so you'll get the last shift, all right? Shino, Kiba, you should decide on the order between the rest of us."

Kiba immediately spoke up. "I'll go first, if that's all right." He said the last while looking at Shino.

"That is acceptable. I have had sufficient rest during the past night, so I shall take the third shift. Would that be acceptable, Kurenai-sensei?"

"It would. Now, shall we see what the arrangements are for food?"

‡ж‡

Naruto was exhausted. The headache had gotten worse, which was odd because the only headaches he'd ever gotten were from the fox. He had, however, gotten the Kage Bunshin to work without using seals. He still couldn't do it reliably, but it was encouraging that he'd done it at all. He didn't have any balloons to work with for the Rasengan, but the Kyuubi had had him practice without them. He'd just gone over to a spring and stuck his hand in, watching how the water moved. He was fairly confident he'd gotten to the second stage.

After several hours of that, Kyuubi had started him on the hellish torture that Kyuubi considered taijutsu training. It basically involved an uncountable amount of laps around the field, sprints, pushups, and whatever other exercise he could think of. Then he'd had to do the first kata of some obscure or forgotten style Kyuubi knew of over and over again. Every time he did something wrong, he'd feel a pain at the offending body part. Ten laps around the field and some stretches were his cool-down exercise. At that point, it was well past dark and Naruto had to struggle to stay awake as he walked home. Once he'd gotten there, he had collapsed on his bed. His last thought for the night was a single word. '_Saddist._'

‡» Chapter Notes «‡

Tabiwaza (旅業) – First kanji from travel (tabi: 旅) and second from trade (shougyou: 商業, but the 業 kanji alone is waza). I think. Anyways, I needed a name, so I made one.

**Hibana no Jutsu **:: Spark Technique :: Ninjutsu. Basic fire technique. It creates a small fire at the tip of a finger (like a match or candle) with chakra acting as the wick and protecting the finger. It is intended as a stepping stone to learn the basic molding of chakra required for fire jutsu. The sole seal is the tiger (which lends itself nicely to the idea considering the seal's shape). I don't think that people would start learning fire jutsu with the kind that involves exhaling since that has more potential for damage than a burnt finger.

**Yureru Hono'o** :: Flare :: Ninjutsu. Complement to Hibana no Jutsu, it is meant as a stepping stone. It involves mixing the proper chakra into the air in the lungs and exhaling onto an existing flame to cause it to flare up (one long breath, kinda like wind across a fire). Again, the sole seal is the tiger. I didn't add "no jutsu" for two reasons, the first being that it sounds odd if I do. Secondly, it seems more of a follow up or practical exercise than a technique. The spelling is straight from the dictionary. Meh.

**Ibusu Fuuin** :: Smolder Seal :: Basic fire seal that appears as a circle the size of the user's palm. The seal is temporary, as it bursts into flames after half the chakra put into it is depleted (lasts 5 seconds, as the rate of dissipation is one tenth of the original amount per second). The strength of the flames/explosion is determined by the remaining chakra on activation. The seals are dog and tiger, where the hand being used to apply it is placed flat on the surface for enough time to transfer all the chakra being used.

‡» Author Note «‡

I haven't gone over this chapter, wanting to get it out to you readers as soon as I finished. It's quite a bit, considering it covers only one day. Oh well. I feel it's necessary. Anyways, I have some homework to do for tomorrow, then I'll start on the next chapter. It should hopefully end at or near the start of the chuunin exams.

I jump around and between scenes a lot, huh? I can't really say why I do it, though it probably comes from how I started the story and the fact that I don't really like flashbacks, so I'm basically telling everything chronologically. There's also the fact that I feel there is so much more of the plot that could be portrayed, but isn't, in the manga/anime. I guess it's also to keep your attention while reading. It's different, if nothing else.

In my opinion, Naruto's arsenal in the manga/anime is rather…pathetic. The reason for this, I believe, is that he has no general foundation to base his learning on (all he seems to use is Kage Bunshin and Rasengan). So, Kyuubi is giving him that grounding. I also think that if he has a focused instructor, Naruto will be a rather avid student (at least for jutsu). Kyuubi's rant was a spontaneous thing though. Same with the hand seal and aura stuff. Speaking of which, tell me what you think about the whole aura thing.

In the series, it seems to me that Ino loses her fancy for Sasuke after the Forest of Death incident with the sound ninja. So, I feel justified in including the scene with Sakura and Ino arguing. Just so you know, as a guy, I have no real experience with female squabbles like that and I'm just guessing how it might go.

As for Haku's ranking of low to mid chuunin…Well, he could somewhat keep up with Sasuke, sure, but he had to use his ice mirrors to beat him. Zabuza said (in the manga at least) that no one had beaten Haku _when_ _he used the mirrors_. I'm fairly certain of that. His skill with senbon doesn't really mean much either, as it's a weapon of choice, therefore there would be an inherent proficiency. In other words, he isn't that remarkable without his bloodline limit. And if someone were ranked just on blood, well, any Uchiha would by default be at least chuunin, right?

As a final thought, I respond to reviews individually when I release a chapter, so if you want to have an answer to someone else's review, tell me and I'll add it to the chapter's notes.


	4. Determined Priorities

Please pardon the delay. A friend (and ex-roommate) killed himself and I haven't been in the mood to write for a while. I have been writing some, however. I just kept adding a bit here and there without uploading the chapter. It's not done, but since I haven't updated in a while…might as well. Again, I haven't read over this.

Edit:

Chapter 344 has made me rather happy. My idea for Orochimaru has just been justified, so to speak. The fact that Sasuke won is of no consequence, as I can work that in. I've added 4000+ words, but I have a few projects, etc. due for my classes this coming week or two, so I don't expect to be able to add much for a while. Meh.

I think I might be going a bit to fast with explanations and future plot development, but oh well. As a passing thought, would anyone like to beta? (Read: would anyone like to go over snipets and the general plot as I write and bug the hell out of me to write faster.)

‡» Chapter 4 «‡

‡» Determined Priorities «‡

Hinata woke slowly from a rather pleasant dream about Naruto. Without opening her eyes, she stretched out her arms above her and yawned. She would have basked in the sleepy haze she found herself in if her hands hadn't come across the tent fabric. Hinata froze as her sluggish mind processed that information. '_I'm not in my room, so why…The mission! Wasn't I supposed to have a watch shift?_' Hinata's eyes snapped open as she sat up suddenly. Looking around, she saw that Kurenai was sleeping peacefully next to her and it was most definitely still dark. '_I went to sleep at around ten, what time is it now?_' Reaching over to her pack by her feet, she pulled out her small alarm clock. '_4:08. How am I awake?_' Considering how tired she had been and how little sleep she'd gotten, she shouldn't have woken up until Shino came to change shifts—her's was to start at a quarter 'till five. Falling back onto the mat, she tried to get some more sleep.

Hinata gave up on sleep after five minutes of lying there, looking at the roof of the tent. Sighing, she got out from under her blanket and quickly changed into a new set of underclothes. While she didn't mind reusing clothing, she absolutely refused to not change underclothes each day. It was unhygienic. As it was, she carried a spare set of clothing and two spare sets of underclothes, which she washed when she could. Leaving the tent, she found Shino sitting by the remains of the fire.

Shino looked up as she walked over to him. Keeping his voice low, he said, "I did not expect you to awaken for another half-hour. Is there a problem?"

Shaking her head, Hinata blushed lightly before sitting next to him. "I w-woke and couldn't go b-back to s-sleep."

"Odd. However, you did have a period of extended sleep. Perhaps that has affected your sleeping. Has this happened before?"

"No, it h-has not."

"Then it may be of no consequence."

Glancing at her teammate, she noticed that he had removed his sunglasses. He looked, well, odd, without them. His face was mostly in shadow, since the moon was behind him, but she was fairly certain his eyes were a green color. When he turned and caught her looking, she blushed and looked back to her lap. "If you wish, I, I could s-start my shift now. You c-could get some more s-sleep."

"Your offer is appreciated, but unnecessary. I would feel as if I were shirking my duty if I accepted."

Hinata was mortified. With a pale face, she quickly stammered an apology. "Ah, go-gomen. I, I did n-not m-mean to i-imply…"

"There is no need to apologize, as there was no insult taken."

She felt some relief at his statement, but could feel the blood rushing back to her face. "Gomen."

A muted clang and whispered curse startled her. Turning to the source of the noise, she saw one of the guards by the wagon. Apparently, he had dropped his canteen. "The guards have been instructed to check on the packaging. It would seem that some of the goods would be ruined should they be exposed—spices, I believe."

Hinata looked back at Shino briefly before looking down. "Oh." When she couldn't think of a reply, she shuffled around the campfire, noting that there was enough wood to rebuild the fire come breakfast. Absently scratching behind her right ear, she settled on another log.

After a few minutes or semi-uncomfortable silence, Hinata decided to meditate. She reaffirmed her decision when she remembered that the Kyuubi had told them to meditate before sleeping. Settling into a somewhat comfortable position before relaxing her muscles, she sought to organize and clear her mind.

‡ж‡

Naruto shot out of bed as if the hounds of hell were after him in his sleep. He unfortunately did not take into account the fiends that set traps at night, as his legs were twisted in his sheets. The cleverly laid trap caused him to land on the floor face-first, hard. Twisting around, he peered through the dim lighting to make sure his rear end was not on fire—the distinct feeling he'd gotten as he woke. Blinking when he saw nothing other than the clothing he'd been wearing, he looked around for his alarm clock. '_Ugh. Why the hell am I up at five?_'

'**To train.**'

'_Huh? Why would I…You woke me up, didn't you._' It wasn't a question. With a sigh, Naruto untangled himself and prepared for his morning rituals. He had agreed to obey when it came to training, and he supposed waking this early fell under that agreement. '_Damn._'

Once he was showered, dressed, and fed, Naruto headed out to the field. He arrived there panting slightly and still feeling sore from the previous day. '_I hate waking up early. It's unnatural._'

'**Not for foxes. Now, five laps around the field followed by five sets of twenty sit-ups, pushups, and another lap. After that, go to the creek.**'

Naruto just groaned as he started moving.

‡ж‡

Hinata sighed as she took another look around with her Byakugan. After Shino and the guard had gone to sleep, there just wasn't much for her to do. She couldn't continue her meditation or practice since she wouldn't be paying attention to the surroundings—which her current post entailed. Glancing at the guard who shared her watch, she couldn't help but admire her. '_How did someone as beautiful as she is come to be a guard?_' Her thoughts were shattered, however, when the guard let out a giggle and looked at her. "The same way a cute girl like you became a ninja, Hyuuga-san."

Hinata felt her cheeks heat up as she realized she must have spoken out loud. Her blush deepened at being called 'cute.' "A-ano, g-gomen…"

"No need to apologize. If anything, I should thank you for the compliment." At that, Hinata blushed further. With a gentle smile, the guard continued. "My family, for the most part, has all been guards. My mother was disappointed when I decided to follow my father's footsteps."

"A-ano…"

Sensing Hinata's dilemma, the guard blinked before grinning. "Pardon my manners, my name is Kyori Ayuna." She gave a small half-bow after stating her name.

"I'm H-Hyuuga Hinata. Pleased to m-meet you." Hinata winced inwardly when she stuttered over her name. It was a small mercy that her father would likely never hear of this conversation.

‡ж‡

Haku arrived at the Konoha Hospital at half-past six, forehead-protector in hand. He had not realized until he was getting ready for the day that the Hokage had never specified _where_ he was to meet his new instructor. It had either been inferred, an oversight, or a test. He had decided to check the Hospital first as it was the most likely place. Besides, it would not hurt to be early.

Looking around the entrance, he walked up to the receptionist. "Excuse me, but I wish to know where to find Medic Kiria."

The receptionist gave him a piercing look before her expression softened. "You are Momochi Haku?"

Haku twitched slightly at the name. Fortunately, it went unnoticed. "Hai. I was assigned to Kiria-san."

"Her office is on the second floor, room 207. The stairs are through the door immediately to the right in that hall. When you walk out of the stairwell, there will be an unmarked door in front of you. Go through the door and room 207 is the second door on the right. Good luck."

Though slightly confused at the final comment, Haku gave the receptionist a slight bow. "Thank you very much."

Following the receptionist's directions, he soon found himself in front of room 207. Steeling himself, he gave two sharp knocks on the door.

"Enter."

Haku paused to calm his nerves before he opened the door and gave a polite bow to the petit woman sitting at the desk. "Kiria-san?"

Kiria looked up from the book she had been reading. "Yes?"

"I am Momochi Haku. The Hokage told me I was to report to you."

Her grey eyes narrowed. "You are early." Kiria paused for a moment before nodding at a free chair. "Sit."

Her tone of voice was doing nothing to help Haku's nerves, and her sharp command almost made him jump. Trying not to hurry, he walked over to the chair and sat before looking back at his new instructor. Kiria had resumed her reading. Haku focused on his breathing to calm himself down.

‡ж‡

Growling as much as humanly possible, Naruto lugged yet another stone to the creek. The most annoying part of his current task: the four rips the rocks had caused in his jacket.

Apparently, Kyuubi's idea of training that morning involved creating a small pond—complete with a layer of rock for 'aesthetics.' All he cared about was the fact that he had to carry the stones from the site they found to the newly formed mud pit, as he like to call it. Naruto had good reason for that name, too, as that is what it currently looked like: a nice three meter wide, half-meter deep _pit_ lined with churned mud. Using his still developing Rasengan on soft ground next to water was not pretty.

He had at first resisted Kyuubi's order to strip, but after the first pseudo-Rasengan sent mud flying everywhere, he hid his clothing behind a tree and declared war on the ground. Afterwards though, he had gained another useful technique. It forms a small layer of chakra on top of his skin, causing anything on it to not stick. Naruto simply thought of it as the Super Shower, as the only name Kyuubi had for it was in some other language.

It had taken him a surprisingly short time to learn Zhuó; only about ten minutes. Something about learning the Kage Bunshin allowing him to better understand the shape of his body. Regardless, he was now stuck carrying rocks weighing at least twenty kilograms.

As he arrived at the spring, his grumbling was interrupted by Kyuubi. '**This is the last one for now.**'

Naruto set the rock down by his pile of some twenty others before stretching. '_What now, furball?_'

'**It would appear that instilling a sense of time should be added to your training. You have twelve minutes before you are to meet your team. Run two laps around the field and go through a set of stretches. You are to meditate while you wait for your _sensei_. Leave me be until he dismisses you.**' Naruto missed the verbal jab at Kakashi.

'_Ugh._' He shot Kyuubi a mental glare as he started moving to the clearing.

‡ж‡

As soon as the clock by the door gave a low chime, Kiria placed a small blue slip of paper between the pages she was reading and closed the book. She gave a small sigh before she looked up at Haku. "When the Hokage asked me to take on an apprentice, I immediately said 'no.'" She held up a hand at Haku's startled look. "He convinced me to at least consider you, and here you are. Now I see that I may have spoken too soon. You arrived early and seem polite and obedient to a fault. You sat in silence until you were addressed. If you wish to learn, I will teach you."

After a calming breath, Haku gave another small bow. "I am in your care."

Kiria gave a wry smile. "Very well. Introductions first, I suppose. I am Hyuuga Kiria, though I prefer to ignore my last name. The main branch of the clan would prefer to ignore me, too. Do you know of the Byakugan?" Haku gave a nod, as Iruka had gone over the major clans as part of his tour. "As you can see, my eyes have pupils. It means that my 'Hyuuga blood' is too thin. While I can still see through most objects and have better eyesight than most, I do not have the full doujutsu. I still carry the mark of a branch member though. That should answer any of your questions about my name. Let's see, I have been a ninja for twenty two years, and have been a medic for fourteen. I am the captain of the second team of field medics, so you can expect some traveling. I have three teammates, who I'll introduce you to tomorrow. Like most women, I like chocolate. I believe that is all you need to know for now. Your turn."

Haku took another deep breath while storing all the information she gave him. "My name is Momochi Haku. Due to…difficulties, I lost my home in the Land of Water and…ended up here. I have been trained by Momochi Zabusa-san before he…died. I have some small experience with healing woulds, though never with chakra. I have a good understanding of the human body and can use senbon. I have an…affinity with water. My kekkei genkai allows me to manipulate water and form ice." Haku paused and glanced around, trying to think of anything else she may need to know.

"That's enough, although, how old are you?"

Haku blinked. "Fifteen."

Kiria nodded. "All right, your main duty under me will, of course, be to learn. However, you'll likely be sent on errands to learn your way around the hospital. Eventually you will be put in charge of some non-critical patients until I deem you fit to work on your own. The Hokage will decide your fate after that. Understood?"

"Yes."

"Good." Kiria pulled a satchel from the back of her chair. "This is now yours. It contains scrolls with the basic, intermediate, and a few advanced medic techniques and jutsu. I will be using them as the basis of your instruction. They are your own copies, so you can write notes and such on them, should you wish. Do not lose them; the paperwork for making new copies is tedious. That, and we do not want the more advanced scrolls compromised. Just think of them as the beginning of your personal library." That said, she handed the satchel over to a surprised Haku.

"One more thing; get into the habit of carrying writing tools around, especially for when we start on seals. An organic-based ink would be best."

Haku, slightly overwhelmed, gave a nod.

Kiria smiled, though this time with mirth. "A bit much for the first day?" Chuckling at his startled look, Kiria rose from her chair. "And now, for the tour."

Haku stood and placed the satchel over his shoulder before following Kiria out of her office.

‡ж‡

Sakura's day had started poorly and refused to improve itself. The previous day she had found a few scrolls and books that were of interest to her in the library (though she didn't have a high enough rank to look past the tertiary chuunin section) and had started working on the exercises the taijutsu book recommended. In the early evening she had taken a break when her mother called her in for her meal. Afterwards, she had continued with the exercises and the first of the kata. When she had been certain she knew it, she switched to the scroll she had checked out, which outlined methods to train physical strength—the area she was definitely lacking in. She had dozed off while reading it, and woken up when her mother had come into the room to grab her laundry.

That, of course, turned out to be past the meeting time for Team 7. Panicking, she had hurriedly changed, brushed her hair, and set off to the bridge. It was not until she caught sight of it—and the notable absence of her teacher—that Kakashi's habits came to mind. Of course, Sasuke had by that time seen her, and she couldn't go back to shower and otherwise make herself presentable. Resigned, she walked up to the two boys and gave a muted greeting.

Strangely, Naruto was just sitting there; although he occasionally twitched his fingers or frowned briefly. He didn't even respond to her. Sakura stared at him for a few seconds before she decided that she liked the change. '_At least he isn't annoying me all the time._'

Slightly tired now that the jolt of adrenaline from hurrying here was wearing off, she decided to forgo propriety and just dropped down to sit against the bridge railing, a meter from Naruto.

Since then, they had waited thirty seven minutes and fourteen seconds before their teacher sauntered up to them, book in hand.

"Yo."

Kakashi didn't even look up.

Aggravated, Sakura jumped up and yelled, "You're late!" She paused, however, when there wasn't a second voice yelling with her. Looking back, Sakura watched as Naruto slowly rose to his feet and crossed his arms while glaring at the ground in front of him.

‡ж‡

It had taken Naruto a good quarter-hour of perusing his stray thoughts and ignoring his senses before he could clear his mind. His mind, though now clear of thoughts of the present, turned to the past. He spent little time on his own past as he'd had plenty of time to think on it over his short life, and so the memories of his "future" began to delight and torment him.

First it had been the memory of Hinata dying, followed soon after by the memories of the time they had been together. The happiness he so often saw in her eyes when she looked at him was addicting. But the lingering image of her death kept him from enjoying it. After overcoming his distraction, Naruto managed to clear his mind again, only to have more memories pop up: the war, his training, Akatsuki, Jiraiya, and finally Sasuke's betrayal. Naruto's mood soured. His mind refused to pull away from the memory of their fight, and Naruto wanted nothing more than to walk over and beat some sense into his teammate.

Briefly, he opened his eyes and glanced at Sasuke. Sasuke, he knew, wanted nothing more than to become stronger. To kill Itachi. He went to Orochimaru because he was promised strength—and he got it. But he didn't kill Itachi. '_Damn. Why would Sasuke think that he couldn't get strong in Konoha? I mean, both Itachi and Orochimaru were trained here, so it'd be the…_'

"You're late!" Sakura's yell derailed his thoughts.

Glancing up, he saw Kakashi. Naruto looked down at the ground while he stood. '_I need to know why he would want to leave._'

‡ж‡

As was his habit, Kakashi gave an ad-hock excuse for his tardiness. Since he'd spotted a black cat on his way over, that was today's focus. He was more worried about his team, however.

Sasuke was slightly more intense and impatient than before, likely due to his defeat by Haku. He no doubt wanted to improve himself—and perhaps prove himself.

Naruto, however, was almost unnaturally subdued. He even appeared to be meditating. The tearing and small bit of mud in his jacket coupled with him appearing from a different street than normal indicated either he didn't care about such things or he was training. The meditation suggested the latter.

Sakura, who he had learned hated being late, was late. The way she moved suggested tired and sore muscles. Perhaps she had been serious about her desire to become stronger. He could only hope that she would not give in and return to how she was before the mission.

Unknown to them, he was often present when they first arrived in order to watch both their interaction and their habits. He would then visit the Memorial Stone to pay his respects. On his way back he would stop by the Tower to check on missions before walking to greet his team. That was the usual schedule, anyway.

Today, however, he decided to forgo any plans. The team dynamics had changed. It was to be expected, really. After the mission they had returned from, his students would better understand the occupation they had chosen. They had taken one more step into the real world. Perhaps it was time he train them for the next. Another day or two and he would know.

Right now, he was more interested in the plot of the _Icha Icha Paradise_ that was released during the previous mission. He had until they reached the Tower to finish the chapter.

Looking up when he stepped on the bridge, he smiled at his team. "Yo."

‡ж‡

Hinata was nervous. They had been forced to stop due to a dead tree having fallen across the road—its few remaining branches reaching into the river beside them. They were also near the previous attack point. There had been a tense minute after they stopped during which everyone was on guard, yet nothing happened. Using her Byakugan, Hinata had thought she'd seen someone further along the road, but when she had focused it had turned out to be a bush waving in the breeze.

While Kiba and two of the guards were removing the tree, Shino had been sent to check out how the tree fell. He'd soon returned saying that it fell due to rot. Even so, it was a prime location to ambush them and Hinata's focus was zipping from one perceived movement to the next.

"We're clear!"

Ayuna, who was driving the wagon, started the horse moving. Hinata, ever observant, followed next to Kurenai. The others resumed their positions.

‡ж‡

Once he was dismissed after the daily D rank mission (capturing the cat again), Naruto had immediately left to grab some ramen for lunch. After a quick three bowls of miso ramen, two bowls of pork ramen and a hurried yell of "Thanks!" to the old man, Naruto ran towards the clearing. The thoroughly dull mission left him wanting to do as much training as he could.

After Naruto arrived at the clearing, he bent over to catch his breath. Shooting back up straight, he grinned. '_All right! Time to train!_' A three second burst of pain in his head made him flinch.

'**You will cease your excessive noise, vocal or otherwise.**'

'_Huh?_'

'**The volume at which you speak is excessive, undignified, and stupid.**'

'_Why you…_' Naruto stopped when he felt another burst of pain.

'**It is no doubt a result of your upbringing—a way to draw more attention to yourself from those who would ignore you. However, you should work to prove your existence through action, not needless noise. You are also a ninja, one who is effective, stealthy, and dutiful. Yet you insist on wasting energy through noise. From now on, eliminating such wasteful actions will be part of your training. As such, wh…**'

'_WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT, YOU DAMN FOX! AND HOW THE HELL ARE YOU DOING THAT!_'

After his outburst, Naruto heard the Kyuubi give a deep and very dark growl before he found himself outside the seal. Kyuubi was standing and growling with his fangs bared. '**I have tolerated enough of your foolishness.**' One of Kyuubi's tails hit the bars of the cage and prevented Naruto from speaking. '**I have continuously told you to be _silent_, yet you insist on raising your voice needlessly, even in your own mind. It is foolish and wasteful. I will no longer tolerate it. You will be punished for needless noise until you are broken of the habit. Understood?**'

Naruto stood still, trying to reign in his temper. He could not, however, think of a counter-argument or a way to block the Kyuubi from causing the pain. So he gave a brief nod.

Kyuubi settled down, though his tails still twitched in agitation. '**Just think of this as another way to improve yourself.**' Naruto hesitated before giving another nod. '**Today, you will practice the kata again, followed by practicing the Rasengan. Most of the afternoon will be spent with starting your training in genjutsu.**'

At this, Naruto dropped his scowl and looked startled. '**There is merit in the belief that kitsune are masters of illusion. It is how I began to teach myself, and how I taught those of my kind I first encountered. Perhaps I will later tell you of the beginning of the demons.**' Here the Kyuubi grinned. '**It is, after all, the history of the shinobi.**'

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'_Huh?_'

'**As for how I am able to cause you pain, you could say that after the incident on the bridge—the spiritual link with a future instance of ourselves—we are now…kindred spirits.**'

Naruto fell back to the ground in shock. '_We, we're WHAT?_'

Kyuubi gave a low growl. '**During the…transfer of memories, my spirit…encompassed yours and the girl's spirits. I…my future self was not certain of the consequences, but I believe one possibility has been realized.**'

Naruto gulped compulsively. '_What, what happened?_'

'**Our spirits—our souls—were linked, with mine…influencing your own. Because of the damned seal, this…link only allows me to gain slightly more control of my…chakra that you use outside the seal—chakra that is always present in your body. I simply focus enough chakra to the point where it is…toxic to your human body.**'

Naruto shivered. '_So I'm still human? You didn't turn me into a demon. Thank Kami. You had me scared for a while._' Thoughts of really _being_ a demon like the villagers called him had terrorized him mind since the Kyuubi mentioned they were 'kindred spirits.'

'**Turn you into a demon? Why would I do that?**'

Now Naruto lost any semblance of fear and glared at the giant fox. '_Because you're a sadistic bastard that wants to destroy everything._'

Kyuubi tilted its head slightly. '**Everything? Hardly. Besides, you've always been a demon.**'

It took Naruto a moment to register exactly what he'd been told. '_Wh-what?_'

'**Everything that lives has a spirit, a will. Anything that can extend that will beyond its body is a demon. And what, Naruto, is chakra?**' The last was said with a terrifying grin.

Naruto paled. '_B-but…_'

Kyuubi snorted. '**It is you humans that began associating the word demon with evil, interchanging it with the word devil. But then, humans are such prejudiced creatures, viewing most anything they fear or do not understand as evil.**' Here the grin reappeared. '**The villagers, for example. Don't you agree, Naruto? After all, it is _you_ they fear and it is _you_ they consider evil. Why? They do not _understand_ the nature of the seal.**'

Naruto had broken out of his shock and started processing what the Kyuubi was saying. The reference to the villagers was all to clear. But still…His eyes narrowed. '_You're a fox, why should I trust you?_'

'**Trust? I care not for trust, as it can always be broken. However, I have no reason to lie. If it worries you so much what you are, then consider this: all shinobi are demons, but they are human, just as you are. A demon is a being whose mind is connected more to its spirit than its physical body. You should be thankful for this seal in that sense. It locks your body and spirit and keeps your form human.**' The Kyuubi closed its eyes. '**I tire of this conversation. When the girl, Hinata, returns, I will tell you of the origin of what you call demons, what you call summons, and what you call shinobi. For now, you will train.**'

‡ж‡

When the elder Tabiwaza called for a stop to make camp for the night, Hinata let out a sigh. After the fallen tree, everyone had been slightly jumpy. The people they passed on the road were viewed with mild suspicion. She had increased the frequency and intensity of her scans with her Byakugan, perhaps out of nervousness, and that had resulted in another headache. She had mentioned her headaches to Kurenai, but her teacher had just frowned in concern, unable to give any sound advice. She was not completely exhausted like the previous night, fortunately.

Her current task was to do a complete scan of the area where they had stopped. Her teammates where doing the same, in their own ways. Finding nothing, she turned to Kurenai. "Kurenai-sensei, I don't see anything." She received a nod and quick smile in return. As Kiba, and then Shino, walked over and said much the same, Kurenai turned to the traders and guards.

"No tents tonight, we're outside Konoha's regular patrol radius. The weather should stay clear for another few days, but we'll still set up tarps over us. That way we won't be visible for attackers but won't have to get out of a tent to defend ourselves. I'd suggest watch shifts of three tonight."

Tabiwaza nodded. "We've made good time, so if we push hard tomorrow we'll arrive in the evening. Four shifts of three—one of you and two of us per shift—sounds like a good idea. Do you think we should leave earlier tomorrow morning?"

Kurenai looked thoughtful for a moment. "I don't think that will be necessary." Glancing up, she caught sight of the setting sun. "I would like to think they will not attack, but they may be hoping for that assumption." Kurenai glanced around the clearing they had claimed for the night. "It will take some doing, but I can disguise this area to appear vacant. We should gather all the water and supplies we will need tonight first, as breaching the line of the genjutsu will shatter it if I'm not awake to maintain it."

Tabiwaza nodded. "That would be appreciated." Turning to the others by him, he smiled. "You heard the woman, let's get the camp ready!"

Hinata retrieved the tarp—usually placed over the tent to keep off rain—and used some string to fasten it in a tent-like shape over an area large enough for her and Kurenai to sleep under. When she was finished, she noted that Kurenai was working on sharpening one end of a meter-long stick. Curious, she watched as Kurenai then carved a small, unrecognizable symbol in the flattened end. When Tabiwaza said no one would need to leave the clearing, Kurenai stood and took her stick towards the center, near the newly lit fire. About two meters from the fire, she drove the stick into the ground deep enough to ensure it didn't move. By now, everyone was watching Kurenai. She then moved to the edge of the clearing while pulling out five small knives. Shorter and flatter than normal kunai, they lacked the usual loop at the end and the blade was only about four centimeters long.

After she walked a ways into the surrounding forest, she took one of the blades and pricked her left thumb before smearing some of the blood onto the handle. She then drove the blade into the side of a tree. She walked around the clearing like that, driving the blood covered knives into trees. After the fifth knife, she walked back to the center and let some blood drip onto the end of the stick, covering the symbol she had made. Hinata belatedly realized that the five knives formed a rough pentagon around the stick.

Standing still, Kurenai started a series of hand signs. After fifteen or so, she held the last hand sign for a few seconds before Hinata caught sight of an odd glow around Kurenai that moved to the stick and spread outwards, covering the clearing. Blinking quickly, she noted that she had not activated her Byakugan. The glow dimmed to the point that she could barely notice it before it seemingly disappeared. As soon as it did, Kurenai relaxed. "The clearing should seem empty now, though we should try to keep the noise and smoke to a minimum. So long as I'm awake you can leave and come back in without disturbing the barrier, but it'd be safest if you didn't. Shall we settle on the shifts and get dinner started?"

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Naruto trudged home, mildly depressed and quite determined. After two hours of physical training and conditioning, the Kyuubi had made him continue to meditate. It had taken Naruto a good hour to calm and blank his mind, but he had managed it with Kyuubi's coaching. With his mind clear, he'd been told to _observe_. He had to understand how his surroundings affected his senses, or so Kyuubi said. Naruto's impatience had resulted in seven bursts of pain over a span of an hour. After that, Kyuubi told him to continue work on the pond.

He'd headed over to the mud pit to find it half-covered with water. He stripped off his clothing and, per Kyuubi's orders, waded into the center of the pit. This had led to another training exercise, where he extended some chakra out of his palm to grab some water and then lift that out. He then threw the water into the creek. It was similar to walking on water, he supposed, but the goal was to attract rather than balance or repel. Throwing the water was challenging, however, since he had to keep the chakra spread through the water in order to keep control over it.

After emptying most of the water, he'd been taught how to make 'claws' out of chakra. He currently could only manage one chakra blade from his index and middle fingers. But even so, Naruto found the ability to concentrate chakra at his fingertips to form blades both highly useful and awesome. He'd said as much, loudly, and been rewarded with pain.

This exercise turned out to have an immediate purpose as well, as he was to start cutting the rock into slabs to use on the pond. Not that Naruto had complained.

By the time he had grown tired enough to no longer concentrate enough to form the blades, Naruto had cut about a fourth of the rocks.

He'd cleaned off, clothed himself, and moved back to the clearing to meditate again and _observe_. This time, however, he hadn't been able to clear his mind. After half an hour of fidgeting and wondering about Sasuke, the chuunin exams, Hinata, and other memories, Kyuubi had decided it best if he just practiced everything he knew before going home for dinner and rest. Several hours after dark, Naruto had decided that it was time to stop training for the day. As he'd headed to Ichiraku for ramen, Naruto started to think about the chuunin exams again. While the smell and taste of ramen had cheered him considerably, the sudden thought that the Hokage—the old man who was always there for him—was going to die sobered him. He'd finished his meal, paid, and started towards his apartment.

When he reached his door, he unlocked it, opened it, and checked the tiny seal carved into the edge of the door. It was black—indicating that no one had been in the apartment after he'd left that morning. The seal was a gift from the Hokage, added after someone broke in and ransacked the apartment, placing traps and such. The windows were always locked when closed, and only open when he needed them to be. The seal turned red when someone was inside, and placing his thumb on the seal would turn it black as he left. Mentally and physically tired, Naruto went through his routine to prepare for bed before falling across his mattress. '_I _will_ find a way to keep the old man from dying._' He thought he heard a growl from the Kyuubi before he fell asleep.

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The next morning went much like the previous one for Naruto. He woke early, trained, cut rock, and then made a dash for the bridge to meet his team. When he arrived, Sasuke was brooding, Sakura was sitting against the railing, and Kakashi was absent. Naruto settled some distance from Sakura. Glancing at his teammates, he noticed Sasuke was looking at him in a suspicious manner and Sakura was sporting a cut on her right cheek. Now that he thought about it, she had a different shirt on than usual, this one having long sleeves. '_Odd. Why would that be different?_'

He was about to ask her when Kakashi suddenly appeared in the middle of the bridge. Sasuke's eyes widened in surprise while Naruto's mouth hung open. Sakura glanced at the watch she kept in her pouch. '_Only ten minutes late?_'

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The expression of surprise on his students' faces was certainly amusing. "Morning. No missions today, we have a more pressing matter to attend to."

Sasuke and Sakura blinked while Naruto started to look annoyed. Before any of them could question him, however, he turned. "Follow me." He immediately dashed into the nearby wooded area. He could hear his students hurry after him. Naruto didn't even yell like he'd expected.

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After thirty minutes of chasing Kakashi's shadow, Sakura started to lag behind the others. Between the new training she had started and the sudden nature of the chase, Sakura had been pushing her sore muscles from the beginning in order to keep up. Breathing hard and almost wincing from the pain in her legs, she almost missed her next landing.

Slightly ahead of her, Naruto heard her pained gasp as she recovered. He glanced back before looking forward. Without thinking, he created a Kage Bunshin next to Sasuke. It turned and simply said "Sakura" before dissipating. Sasuke slowed and glanced back, noting the slightly pained expression on her face as she tried to keep up. Sasuke dropped back in parallel with Naruto. "Make three of your clones and have them follow him like it's us."

Naruto nodded and pulled his hands up to form the required seal. Three Kage Bunshin appeared, two of which immediately changed shape to that of Sasuke and Sakura. As the kage Bunshin continued to give the illusion of them following, Naruto and Sasuke slowed down and helped Sakura as she staggered to a halt, out of breath.

When Sakura started bending over, Sasuke grabbed her arm. "Walk around." Sakura nodded and started to walk around her teammates. After she regained her breath, she sighed.

Naruto finally spoke up. "You ok, Sakura-chan?" Sakura nodded. "I've just started training harder at home and my body isn't used to it yet."

Sasuke nodded while Naruto scratched the back of his neck, confused. '**Being exposed to my youki as you have, your body's natural healing is more efficient. Your tolerance for stress is heightened as well. As such, you do not usually notice the side effects of strenuous exercises—oxygen deprivation and muscle tearing are quickly fixed while you rest.**'

'_Oh…Ehh, what's youki?_'

'**The physical manifestation of spirit, comparable to highly concentrated chakra; though that is more of a generalization. You should be more aware of your surroundings.**'

Naruto blinked, wondering what the fox meant before the pain hit and Sakura yelled out, "Oy, Naruto! Don't space out like that!"

Naruto looked sheepish. "Ehh, sorry, Sakura-chan." He then rubbed lightly against the spot where Sakura had punched his arm. '_Stupid fox, you're the one who started talking suddenly._'

Sakura sighed and blushed lightly, looking to the side. "Sorry to make you stop for me. I can run some more now. May be we…Naruto, are you ok?"

Naruto had suddenly cringed. "Man, that's a nasty way to die. Kakashi-sensei knows about the Kage Bunshin now. He used this weird doton that made spikes grow from the ground and destroy the Kage Bunshin."

Sakura blinked before her eyes widened. "You, you feel it when they die?"

Naruto's face expressed a moment of confusion. "Huh? Nah, I just get a glimpse of their 'memories' while they're 'alive.' Err, something about a…synchronized replica of my mind being included in the chakra construct that forms a Kage Bunshin. It's why I can control them but they can also act on their own sometimes. I can sort of…share thoughts, I guess. Anyways, the one that looked like you was in the back and saw the first two disappear before it got destroyed."

Sasuke and Sakura stared at him for a few seconds, both thinking that the explanation was entirely too technical and precise to have come from Naruto. They both noticed the slight pause, and decided it was simply recited. After a moment, Sasuke spoke. "We should prepare." He turned to Naruto. "Do you know where he last was?" Naruto nodded. "Make more clones of us. Have them go to where Kakashi-sensei is while we shadow them from the trees." Sakura nodded at the plan.

"No need."

The three genin whirled around to find Kakashi leaning up against a nearby tree, reading. "Congratulations. You just passed your unofficial test. While your marks aren't perfect yet, you passed by my standards." He snapped his book shut. "Your prize is…training." Three pairs of curious eyes stared at him. "From now on, we'll only be doing missions every other day. On the days that there is no mission, you will train as a team during the morning and individually in the afternoon." He stopped and looked at each of them in turn. "This does not mean you should stop any training you are doing in your own time. To become a good shinobi—to _live_ as a shinobi—you must dedicate your life to being a shinobi." He looked at Naruto. "No goofing off." He faced Sakura. "No hesitation." He turned to Sasuke. "No personal vendettas." Kakashi smiled. "At least, not until you're jounin."

"And once you're a jounin, you can have all the fun you want." Everyone turned to see Anko standing next to another tree. She smirked. "Remember, Kakashi, come to my place at seven tonight." After speaking, Anko disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

Again, three pairs of curious eyes stared at Kakashi. "Hehe, I had her play decoy for me while I observed you, although I may end up regretting it. Tonight might be…painful." Sakura started blushing lightly while Naruto's face looked wan. Sasuke appeared as always. "My poor wallet might not survive treating her to dinner." Sakura's blush turned darker at her assumptions, Naruto snorted, and Sasuke's face betrayed him in the form of a twitch by his left eye.

Kakashi shrugged and put his book away. "Shall we head back to the Tower? There should be a mission waiting for us." He smiled. "We train tomorrow."

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Hinata frowned. Their group was out of the wooden area and they were now traveling through fields and farms. If she remembered correctly, this was one of the major crop production areas of Fire Country. Regardless, she was growing increasingly frustrated at herself. Her usual control over her chakra had degraded to the point that she could barely gather any in her palms. That, and she could not stop sneezing.

After yet another sneeze, Kurenai looked over at her. "Hinata, are you alright?"

Hinata answered with a slight blush. "I'm fine. I just can't s-stop snee—" A sneeze made her stop speaking, and her blush darkened in embarrassment.

Kurenai moved closer to her as they walked before reaching to feel her forehead. After a moment, she said, "I don't think you have a fever. Do you have any allergies?" When Hinata shook her head, Kurenai pursed her lips. She then leaned closer to Hinata and gave her a one-armed hug. "If you do start to feel sick, be sure to tell me."

Hinata looked down, a small smile on her face. "Hai, Kurenai-sensei."

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When Naruto arrived at the clearing after being dismissed for the day, he stretched his arms out and smiled. "All right! Time to train!" A mild ache followed his outburst.

'**Perform the warm-up sets you've done before, then you will finish with the rocks, followed by practicing all your known jutsu and then you are to observe your surroundings.**'

Naruto's shoulders slumped. '_Right, right. When do I actually get to learn genjutsu?_' Naruto started to jog around the field with a dull growl coming from the back of his mind.

'**Once you can understand what you observe of your environment. Unless you do, any genjutsu you create will have flaws. You must understand how the senses interpret the physical aspects of any given thing before you can hope to imitate those interpretations.**'

'_But…_'

'**I am not teaching you. I am helping you learn.**'

'_Huh? What's the difference?_'

Naruto heard a rumbling sigh. '**You wish for me to teach you how to perform genjutsu, much like how the scroll taught you to create Kage Bunshin using hand seals. I am helping you _learn_ how to perform genjutsu, like you learned how to create Kage Bunshin.**'

Naruto blinked, finishing another lap. '_Oh._' After a moment of thought, his face turned serious. '_So I have to observe…uhh…how things affect my senses? Umm…could you, maybe, give an example?_'

After a few seconds during which Naruto thought the Kyuubi would not respond, Kyuubi gave another inaudible sigh. '**You can _see_ shape and color. You can _hear_ sounds. You can _feel_ texture. You can _smell_ scents. You can _taste_ flavors. Your perception of any given thing is dominated by the senses. When the senses are tied together, you can _observe_ that thing. Effective genjutus cause one to observe something that is contrary to reality. You must understand how something is perceived before you can hope to trick someone into perceiving it. Does that help your understanding of the basic concept?**'

Naruto gave a thoughtful nod. '_I think so._'

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When their small group arrived at the gates of their destination a few hours after dark, Hinata felt like cheering. Not that she would ever do so. Instead, she gave her teammates a smile when they walked to the back of the wagon.

When Kiba and Shino stood by her, Kurenai cleared her throat. "Good job. We were fortunate with the weather, so we have an extra day before we're expected back. We'll stay the night at an inn—unless you'd prefer the outdoors?" Kiba shook his head while Hinata looked at the ground in front of her. Kurenai gave a small smile, noting that the gate doors were being opened. "In that case, let's finish up the mission and find some beds."

‡ж‡

Naruto achingly pulled out his key while he stumbled up to his apartment door. '_Sadistic bastard, making me run around the village until I collapsed._' He'd finally started to understand what the Kyuubi had meant by observing something. He'd been somewhat bored after fifteen or so minutes of sitting, so he'd absentmindedly started examining a leaf that had fallen on one of his legs. It had been slightly brown and only faintly dry, crinkling only when he bent it in half. It had been at that point that Kyuubi's talk of the senses had come to mind, and Naruto started looking at, feeling, smelling, and sometimes tasting the things around him. It was an interesting experience, at the least.

Unfortunately for him, the Kyuubi had decided that he should work on his physical training and told him to run around Konoha. When Naruto had asked how many times he was to do so, the only answer he'd received was 'until you can't continue.' A few times, Naruto had tried to pause or slow down to rest, but the Kyuubi would cause some pain to flare up in a random location until he resumed his run. Now, Naruto's mind could only focus on the thought of his bed.

‡ж‡

Hinata woke a short time after dawn. A quick scan of the room and check on her things, due to habit, showed nothing to be out of place. She glanced at the other bed to find her teacher leaning against headboard of her bed, looking out the window. "Good morning, sensei."

Kurenai turned her head to face Hinata. "Good morning, Hinata-chan. Did you sleep well?"

Hinata nodded her head with a murmured "Yes," still not completely awake. She stretched her arms out behind her head and felt a few vertebrae pop into place. She glanced back to Kurenai and found her looking out the window again. "Is something wrong, sensei?"

Kurenai looked at her and gave a small smile. "No, but I always take some time to be thankful that a mission was successful."

Hinata looked down, happy and slightly embarrassed due to the caring she had seen in Kurenai's eyes.

After a few moments of silence, Kurenai spoke. "Hinata." Once Kurenai had her full attention, she continued. "I'll go wake the boys; we leave for Konoha in an hour."

‡ж‡

"Ne, Sakura-chan, wanna eat lunch with me?" Whether from habit or a random impulse to have things as they were before, the question popped out of Naruto's mouth before he could think about it.

Sakura was about to speak an automatic refusal but paused. They had just finished the rather strenuous team training (involving sereval mission simulations and mock battles), and they were given an hour and a half for lunch before the individual training. Sakura watched with a resigned expression as Sasuke continued to walk away. Sighing, she decided that ramen (as that was the default food of Naruto) actually didn't sound too bad today. Besides, she had begun to miss how Naruto acted before. The past few days of him ignoring her—and here her inner self betrayed her by whispering '_Like Sasuke_'—had somehow hurt. "I guess I could."

Naruto had immediately resigned himself to another refusal, so her acceptance threw him completely off guard. He blinked a few times before looking at her. Following her gaze, he saw Sasuke walking off. Blinking again, he yelled, "Oy, Sasuke-teme, wanna eat lunch with us?" Internally, Naruto cringed at the expected burst of pain, yet he felt nothing.

Sasuke paused for a moment, and then turned his head to look behind him. The look of mild surprise on Sakura's face and the smile on Naruto's confirmed that Sakura had, in fact, accepted the invitation he'd heard Naruto offer her. Debating the merits of eating with his teammates, he decided to accept.

Sakura blinked in shock when Sasuke turned around and started walking back towards them. '_He accepted._' She blinked a few times to clear her head. '_I'll be eating lunch with Sasuke! Finally!_' Somehow, though, the thought didn't bring as much happiness as she'd expected to feel.

"All Right!" Naruto's shout brought her introspection to a halt. Smiling, Sakura waited for Sasuke to walk back.

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‡» Chapter Notes «‡

**Zhuó **:: Chinese (濯) for "rinse / to cleanse" :: Anyways, it causes a thin layer of chakra to grow out of the skin, acting like soap and keeping anything from sticking. Good to dry off with, too, as water just slides off. Unfortunately, it's not as effective on hair since the hairs would trap moisture, dirt, etc. So, to more effectively clean the hair, one would have to shake like a wet dog or something. ;

**Kakusu Chi'iki** :: Concealed Area/Region :: The jutsu Kurenai used to disguise the clearing they stayed at and a spur of the moment idea I had when I was typing. Kurenai is a genjutsu master/specialist, so…Anyways, it makes a certain area (designated by blood, as it is tied to the user) appear like the user wants it to. The pause Kurenai had was her forming the image she wanted to project. The larger the area, the more chakra needed and the easier it is to disrupt. The chakra is "flowing" around the area, and a sudden large object in the way (such as a person) can disrupt that flow and dispel the genjutsu. Good for hiding, but not much else. Sixteen hand seals.

**Fēng è** :: Chinese (凨锷); the words fēng (wind; air; manners, atmosphere) and è (blade edge / sharp) :: Err…if that makes sense to any of you who speak Chinese, I'll be happy. It's what Kyuubi has Naruto using to cut the rocks. It's just concentrated chakra and air, forming a blade of sorts. This was actually something I planned to include, for once. If you've seen InuYasha, think of Sesshoumaru's whips. Currently Naruto can only make one blade (3 to 30 cm long) using his index and middle fingers as a base. He didn't require much practice since the Kage Bunshin is a much more complex construct of the same.

Kyori (距離) means distance and Ayuna just popped into my head.

Doctors and lawyers automatically get the "sensei" honorific, not just teachers. So, in the story, I can easily interchange Medic Kiria with Kiria-sensei. Lucky me. Aside from that, I like how her personality came out.

A minor "plot hole" that I simply haven't mentioned is that Hinata's group eats lunch while traveling (they store it in the wagon).

Just a quick reference for people (mainly) in the USA:

1 meter ≈ 3.28 feet

1 kilogram ≈ 2.2 pounds

‡» Author Note «‡

I added so much foreshadowing…sigh

I hope that the different perspectives for Team 7 meeting on the bridge weren't too confusing. It was too much at once for each character to just have one sequence before switching to another (like the opening scene in Wave). The Kakashi scene still doesn't quite flow right.

I'm using an online dictionary for the Chinese words.

I can't remember what they have as a currency set up in Naruto, so…I'll just use yen. (On a side note, 円 (yen) is actually pronounced "en" as in pen. It's a mistranslation from… Portuguese traders, I think. Or was it that it was mistranslated from Portuguese to English? Hmm. Something like that, anyways.)

I've never seen Shino without his sunglasses. Should I find out something that contradicts what I've written, I'll change it.

I debated about adding a bit about Haku putting on slippers after walking into the hospital, but I don't remember seeing that sort of thing in the hospital and decided it too troublesome. But really, Japanese take off their shoes almost as soon as they enter a house/building and take off their overcoats (should they have them on) before entering a house. Walking around inside with shoes on that were used outside is like…a dentist using the same gloves for all his patients.

Suggestions still welcome. As I reply to reviews individually when I post the next chapter, if you should wish to hear the answer for someone else's review you can just PM me and ask.

Cheers.


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